The Power of Love
by midnightwings96
Summary: What would have happened if Stefan had given into Katherine while in the tomb?
1. Prologue

Elena walked slowly down the aisle, her arm clasped tightly around Jeremy's. Her heart pounded frantically in her chest, and the tight corset hugging her torso was not helping her breath evenly. She stepped slowly and placed her foot in the exact right spot so she wouldn't trip over her white heels. She felt Jeremy give her arm a slight squeeze; it comforted her a little. Elena avoided everyone's awed gaze, especially Jenna's. She didn't want to see Jenna crying.

However, she did _not _avoid the gaze of someone in particular. He was absolutely breathtaking, as always. He was dressed in a crisp black tux, his hair just slightly above his eyes, and his beautiful mouth turned up into a large smile, showing his teeth. He hardly ever gave anyone a smile like that, except for Elena. It was _her _smile, and only she could receive it. Her heart swelled up with pride as she realized that the wonderful man was _hers_…and would never be anyone else's.

She was eager to reach him, and when Jer and Elena had come to a stop, she hugged her little brother tightly, whispered I love yous in each other's ear, and she finally placed her hand in the wonderful, slightly cool, yet still warm and comforting hand of the man of her dreams.

The service went quickly, but maybe that was just Elena. At the I dos, she had begun to cry, and he had looked close to tears as well, which hardly _ever _happened. Her voice came out emotional and shaky, but his melodic voice rang loud and clear as he said, "I do."

A shiver went up her spine when he gently pushed the ring onto her finger. He was so gentle, but Elena knew he wasn't with anyone except her. He could be lethal if he wanted to.

Then the priest's voice rang through Elena's head as he made the official statement, "I pronounce you, husband and wife. You may now kiss your bride." He smiled quickly at her as he caressed her cheek and gently pulled her into him. He bent over slightly so Elena could reach him, and as their lips met, fireworks went off in Elena's mind. Eager, she moved her mouth more forcefully, and she could feel him smile and happily comply. Elena was sure that he was pleased with her public outburst…he loved nothing more than to let everyone know that Elena loved him and always will. When they finally broke apart after a couple of cleared throats, he smiled her smile and clasped her hand.

"Ladies and gentleman! I present to you, Mr. and Mrs. Salvatore!" Everyone cheered as we walked down the aisle and met with everyone. Elena was so ridiculously happy she didn't know if she would faint on the spot or not. She was Mrs. Salvatore…but not just _Mrs. Salvatore._

She was none other than Mrs. _Damon _Salvatore, and she couldn't ever be more happy.

_Author's note: I know…this is short, but this is honestly more of a prologue than anything else….REVIEW PLEASE! Hope you like it!_

_Midnightwings96_


	2. Mask

_FIVE YEARS EARLIER_

"Damon! Let go of me! Let _go of me!" _Elena screeched as Damon held her wrists tightly. He would _not _let her in that tomb. "Let go of me! Please," Elena pleaded, close to tears. She had to get in there! Just to make sure Stefan was safe…she _had _to, but Damon wouldn't let her! Damon reluctantly released his grip on Elena. As long as she stayed on the outside, he would be fine.

Immediately after Elena wrenched herself from Damon's grip, she shrieked, "_Stefan!" _ It had been a few weeks since he'd been trapped in there, and Elena was tired of worrying…she had to see him.

When there was no response, she screamed his name again. Damon tensed as he saw the looming figure in the darkness…and it most definitely was _not _his baby brother. He had to restrain himself to keep from growling in fury…Katherine was the definition of bitch, but this was an all time low. And all he could do was watch.

"Well, if he's too much of a coward to come and talk, I'll be glad to have a little chat with you two," a voice identical to Elena's spoke up. Elena immediately froze. Katherine, her who knows how many greats grandmother, walked into the light of the moon.

She was as beautiful as always, identical to Elena.

But she was _stark naked._

Elena's breath hitched in her throat as incoherent thoughts flew across her mind. _What does this mean? _was the only thing that Elena completely thought.

Damon knew his suspicions were correct; Katherine had proved it. He wasn't sure exactly what he had heard going on in the back of the tomb, but he knew now. Even though only a few months ago, he would have been so lovesick to see his past lover standing there like that, but every part of him seethed with hate. She had messed with Elena, and that snatched away any leftover feelings he had for her. It took all he had to keep from lunging at her and ripping her heart out.

Elena stared at Katherine as she smiled evilly and victoriously at her. "Oh, I know what you're thinking. You think I'm playing some sick joke on you, right? Well, Damon, you of all people know I'm many things, but I don't joke. I lie, yes, but joke? No."

Damon bared his teeth, "Don't you dare speak to me."

"And you'll do what? Nothing, that's what, and you know it. I wouldn't even be wasting my time with you two right now, but I felt it would be for Elena's benefit if the truth came out."

"I don't believe you," Elena forced out.

"And why would you? You know I'm a lying, diabolical, conniving bitch; you have every reason to think I'm lying," she said. "But, you could always come in and ask lover boy yourself. But be quick about it. I was busy when you two rudely interrupted." She said as she raised an eyebrow at Damon, knowing it would piss him off.

Elena made her way to the tomb entrance, but Damon flashed to her side and grabbed her arm before she had a chance to enter. "Don't you _dare," _he snarled, frightening Elena. Normally Damon would threat in the worst possible way, but threats were honestly less terrifying than that.

"Damon, I _have to _know," she said, a tear trailing her cheek.

"Elena, no," Damon whispered, his eyes were agonized.

But then, of course, Katherine had to butt in. "Or, you could just ask Damon…I'm sure he heard everything since he's so big and bad." Elena's eyes flew to Damon's unbelievably blue ones.

"Is…is it…true?" she asked timidly.

Damon closed his eyes and took an intake of breath. Elena was making him soft. He couldn't stand to see her hurt. And…as unbelievable as it was, Damon had never lied to her. "Yes," he said with clenched teeth.

Elena gasped quietly. She couldn't believe it but…she did. It felt like someone punched her in the stomach and knocked the breath out of her and she couldn't get it back. She shakily put her hand over her mouth to keep her from sobbing and ran up the old stone stairs and to her car.

Damon shook his head in disgust. His heart, though cold, practically lurched out of his chest when he saw Elena's heartbroken but still beautiful face. He felt his face turn into an unemotional cold mask as he turned to Katherine, who was leaning up against the tomb wall.

"Katherine?"

She raised an eyebrow, "Yes, Damon?"

"Go to Hell," he snarled before racing to Elena.


	3. Everything I Want

_Thanks for the great reviews! However, I would like some more…so tell your friends to read and review! I will love you forever! I got some interesting things coming up in this story…I'm so excited I've practically abandoned my Percy Jackson AND Twilight fanfics…but I'll get to them later. Lol. I'm too hooked on TVD to write about anything else! How did everyone like "Daddy Issues" last Thursday? I was totally in love with Tyler…but I hate him now. But, hey, maybe I'm being melodramatic. And, even though I'm Damon AAALLLLL THE WAAAYYY, I must say that Stefan was extra hot in this one. _

_How about the bathtub scene? AAAIIIEEEEEE!_

Once the sun started to come up, Damon gently tucked Elena under the covers after taking off her shoes. He had to push away the temptation of dressing her in her PJs because even though he would _love _it, he knew Elena would bite his head off later for it. He looked back at her sleeping form to see all her makeup smeared across her face from crying. He quickly went in the bathroom and came back with a warm, damp washcloth. He silently wiped away the smudges from her face. Damon had never seen Elena without makeup…she was beautiful even without it. It was almost more…natural. He liked it. He gave one last look towards her and went downstairs.

As soon as he turned the corner, he was face to face with the point of a wooden stake. _Jeremy._ Damon had to hold back laughter. "What are you doing here?" Jeremy snarled.

"Why so pissed? Relax. I'm here to help Elena," he said in his famous smartass tone.

"Why does she need _your_ help?"

"Because Elena went to the tomb. Meanwhile, _I _heard Stefan and Katherine doing the nasty right before Katherine walked up to Elena in her birthday suit. So _back off._" Damon snatched the stake from Jeremy's hand and pointed it towards his throat.

Jeremy looked at Damon warily, "Stefan wouldn't do that."

"Oh, yeah? Well go ask the saint himself. I'm sure he'll tell you the truth."

"But, Stefan doesn't love Katherine."

"Yeah, well. Stefan's a liar. Not always to other people, mostly to himself. He loves Katherine as much, if not more, as I did."

"You still do," Jeremy said defiantly.

Damon pressed the stake harder on his throat. "_No. _You have _no idea _what I would do to watch her die, let alone do it myself. She's a monster."

"Fine, I get it. You hate the bitch. Now quit shoving that stake up my throat." Damon reluctantly complied. "So…how's Elena?"

Damon glared at him, "What do you think? Heartbroken. She's devastated that Saint Stefan cheated on her when they weren't even dating."

"Yeah, I get why were your all bitchy about Stefan now, but why before? He's saved your life so many times you can't even count them."

"Because Stefan gets the perfect life…at least for a vampire. He has friends and a family and everyone adores him. He has someone who will love him unconditionally and would risk their life to save him. What's not to hate? _His _life is everything _I _want."

Jeremy was silent a while before answering, "Out of all things, I would never expect jealousy. But," Jeremy thought, "Why do I get the feeling that has something to do with the fact that Elena loves Stefan and not you?"

Damon glared at him before saying stiffly, "I'm not talking to you about my life." He turned and started up the stairs. "And, for the sake of Elena's emotional state, I would call up Witchy and Vampire Barbie to come. I can't handle the mushy gushy crap." Damon disappeared up the steps.

Jeremy sighed and thought, _Why does my life have to rival a soap opera all the time?_


	4. Here for You

_Okay, I'm on a roll! I know the last chapter was really short, but I couldn't really go anywhere else with it. SO! I'm adding ANOTHER CHAPTER TODAY! YAY! I know, I'm shocked, too. _

_I want at least TEN reviews for what I've added today. If not, I may be so heartbroken that I won't continue…and we don't want that, do we? I know I don't…but I want to know everyone's opinion. And I know you lurkers out there that aren't reviewing…I check to see how many people have read my stuff. I'm sneaky like that. :P Lol…okay, so I'll quit flapping my lips and continue the Power of Love!_

Elena awoke to the sound of clanking in the kitchen. She groggily opened her eyes to shut them again from the sun blinding her. She looked at the clock: 11:00 AM. She slowly crawled out of bed to see she was still in her clothes from yesterday. What had happened yesterday? She thought back through her sleepy thoughts and suddenly remembered. _Stefan…Katherine…in the tomb…_

It had really happened. Stefan had given into Katherine. Katherine had won. And now, Elena was heartbroken. She expected tears to flow, but none came. She must be all dried up from crying last night. She looked at the foot of her bed and saw a neat pile of stacked PJs: her favorite tank top and plaid shorts. On top was a stiff piece of paper with fancy script written on it.

_**Cute PJs. -D**_

D? _Damon. _Why the hell would _Damon _lay out pajamas for her? She looked at the stack of clothes quizzically before sighing and putting them on. She went into the bathroom and was surprised to not find any makeup streaks on her face. She was _sure _she didn't put anything waterproof on…she didn't even think she owned waterproof makeup. Confused, she just brushed her hair out and made her way down the stairs. She heard Jeremy's voice, "Why do you have to be such a dick all the time?"

"It's a talent," a beautiful deep voice rang through the room. _Damon. _ "And I'm sorry I can't take you and Witchy's lovey dovey crap floating around the room."

"Don't worry about it. He's just jealous that no one is into _him," _Caroline's voice spoke up.

"I beg to differ, Vampire Barbie, anyone I _want _is into me," Damon said very smartass like.

"Except for one…" Jeremy said.

Damon growled murderously, "Don't push me. _Especially _when I have a chef knife in my hand."

Elena turned the corner and immediately everyone turned to look at her. Damon was in the kitchen, chopping something. Caroline was sitting on the recliner with a glass of blood in her hand, and Jeremy and Bonnie were curled up together on the couch. Elena wasn't exactly sure how _that _relationship had come up. It just sort of…_appeared._

Damon was the first one to speak, "Hey, sleepyhead," he smiled, "Here, sit. Eat." Elena looked at him with an odd look on her face but sat down on the other end of the couch anyway. Damon flashed to her side with a plate of _really _good looking food: blueberry pancakes, eggs, and bacon.

Elena took the plate, "I didn't know you could cook." She took a bite; it was even _better _than it looked.

Damon looked down at her with an intensity that left Elena speechless. His eyes, normally either sarcastic, cold, or murderous, now held agony, sadness, and shame, "There's a lot you don't know about me, Elena," he whispered. _Like how I'm totally in love with you, _he thought.

Elena stared at Damon before she tore from his gaze and continued eating. "So, why are all of you here?"

Caroline got up and squeezed between Elena and a cuddly Bonnie, "To spend time with you. To have some fun. We don't have enough fun anymore."

Elena didn't look up from her gradually disappearing food, "No, you're here because you feel sorry for me."

Caroline was about to say something, but Damon, flashing in front of Elena and bending down to her level, beat her to it. He lifted her chin up so he could look her in her warm, rich brown eyes. "No, we're here to help you heal. You've been here for us whenever something went wrong, whether it was trying to commit suicide or having to kill someone you cared about," he said. Damon had never admitted that he cared about Rose, but the cat was out of the bag. _(FYI, I switched the series of events a little bit…Damon has already killed Rose, but Stefan is still in the tomb, and the whole Elijah deal thing hasn't come up yet.)_ "Now, you can handle it on your own if you want to, but you're gonna have to do some _serious _bribing to get us to leave," he said with a quirky side smile and did that eye thing that made Elena's heart involuntarily race. Elena hadn't realized it, but the reason Damon kept doing that just because he loved the fact that he could make her nervous.

Elena looked around at everyone and saw that they were all smiling at her in a worried but really friendly, sympathetic way. In a weird way, she was comforted. "Thanks," she said quietly.

Satisfied, Damon stood, pulled Caroline off the couch, and sat next to Elena. He resisted the urge to put his arm around her. Elena felt immense comfort by being next to Damon. His cool but still warm body sitting next to her calmed her, but still made her feel on edge. Not from fear, but from…something else.

"So, what do we do first?" Caroline asked excitedly.

***TVD***

After a full day of talking about anything but Stefan, playing board games, and laughing at the Jeremy vs. Damon banter, Elena was honestly kind of tired. She thought that the whole day's events were kind of corny, but it honestly distracted her. But…now that everyone had left except for Jeremy and Damon, the emotions came rushing towards her again.

She sat on the bed, holding back tears, when Damon walked in the room. He quickly assessed her and then sat down on the bed with her.

Damon wasn't big on mushy gushy things and emotions and all that, but he wanted Elena to have faith in him. He waited until she looked up at him to speak, "Hey, do you wanna talk about it?"

Elena thought this was strange. Damon, of all people, was the one asking her that? Didn't he run away when it came to emotions and crying and crap? She looked at him and shook her head, "No, just…uh, can you stay here tonight?" she asked timidly. She prayed that he wouldn't make some smartass comment or think she was asking him to sleep with her or something.

But, he just looked at her…wait for it…sweetly, and said, "Sure."

She smiled and mumbled, "Thanks," and he nodded. When she was about to get under the covers, he stopped her. And, to her surprise, he wiped away a tear from her cheek that she hadn't even noticed.

"Hey, you won't hurt forever, Elena. I know from experience. And I'll be here; so don't worry," he looked at her with an extremely sincere intensity that made Elena's heart race. She smiled at him, comforted, and nodded. She slid underneath the covers and was about to turn out the light when she notice Damon looking kind of awkwardly at the floor. _Oh._ She got it.

She scooted herself to the other side of the bed and patted the other side: an invitation. "Come on. But don't get any ideas. If you try to do anything but sleep, your ass is hitting the floor."

Damon grinned mischievously. "The thought never crossed my mind." He pulled his tshirt off and crawled in next to her. Damon wouldn't try anything…even though he wanted to…badly. But, this was good enough for now. He didn't realize that she trusted him enough to allow him to even _sit _on the same bed she was on.

Also, Damon was eternally grateful that Elena couldn't hear _his _heart pounding in his chest like he could hear hers. He, in a friendly like manner, grabbed her hand and held it for a moment before drifting off to sleep, the happiest he'd been in a hundred years.


	5. Go Ahead

_**Okay, so I haven't gotten exactly 10 reviews yet, but I love this story SOOO freakin much that I'm going to update anyway! But don't take this the wrong way and think you don't have to review for me to continue. You do. Lol. I want a total of 15 reviews for my entire story before I continue…so get to reviewin! :D**_

_**However, thanks for the nice comments that I **_**have **_**gotten so far…it means a lot!**_

_**Oh, and before I forget, I want to say that I like this story SO much, that I've practically put my book on hold just because of it. Talk about an over achiever, huh? Lol….ON TO MORE DAMON! 3 33**_

_Cold air flew through Elena's hair constantly, making her shiver. She clamped onto his neck as he ran with her on his back. _

_They were running. From who, Elena didn't know. At least, at the moment, she didn't know. Elena yelled over the gushing wind, "Run! Oh, God, he's getting closer!"_

_Even as a vampire, he was getting more and more tired. He had been running for what seemed for hours, and he ran the fastest he'd ever attempted to run before. He turned a corner, but he could hardly see through the fog, even with his eyesight. "Elena—"_

_Pain. Pain shot up his entire body as he felt the stake pierce his back, run right through his heart, and back out his chest. He gasped and collapsed to the hard, cold ground._

_Elena yelped as she all of a sudden fell. She looked at him to see a stake in his heart. Pure dread and terror fell onto her. She felt death. "NO! Oh, God, no! Please!" She straddled his gasping body and ripped out the stake, making him scream bloody murder._

_Bloody murder._

_She had never heard him scream before…it wasn't right. This couldn't be real. It couldn't be real._

_She saw his wound heal, but she knew it was too late. He was dying. She burst into loud wailing sobs. "No! Please! Please don't leave me!"_

_Through his labored breaths, he whispered, "Don't worry, I'll never leave you. I promised, remember?" Then, his eyes glazed over and he emanated his last breath._

_No._

_He. Could. Not. Be. Dead._

_But, he was._

_Elena stared at him and sobbed. But, Elena heard a loud bang, and then searing pain flew up her back. She was shot. Shocked, terrified, confused, and heartbroken, Elena collapsed onto his chest._

_Damon's chest._

A loud, horrible scream came through Damon's sub consciousness, waking him up immediately. Elena was screaming. Damon, truly scared, grabbed her and pulled her to his chest. "Elena! Wake up! Elena!"

The screaming stopped and turned into sobs. Elena clutched at him, needing to know he was okay and alive. He was warm, in that weird kind of cold but still warm way that only vampires had. She looked at his face to meet perfectly fine icy blue eyes that looked down at her, worried. She put her hands on the sides of his face. He was okay. He was okay.

Two things ran through Damon's mind: _What the hell? _and _Holy shit._ In a weird way, Damon loved the moment, even though he was scared that Elena was finally off her rocker.

"You're okay. You're okay," Elena mumbled to herself, forgetting that Damon would hear it.

He looked at her quizzically and said, "Of course I'm okay. What the hell did you—" Damon was gone. Elena looked around her room and couldn't find him.

"Hey, what the hell happened?" Jeremy and Jenna barged in the room.

Elena's mind fluttered before she shakily answered, "Uh, nothing. Just a bad dream. Sorry." They looked at her with a worried look on their faces, but eventually, they nodded warily and walked back out, closing the door behind them.

"Okay, where was I? What the _hell _did you dream about?" Damon pulled himself back through the window and brushing his jeans off.

"Uh, I…I don't remember," she said, trying to not be distracted at Damon's bare chest. He looked at her with a _Do you think I'm stupid? _look on his face.

"You don't remember…"

"No, I don't." Damon stared at her a while before grabbing his shirt off her dresser and pulling it over his head.

Elena shook her head, trying to get Damon half naked and her nightmare out of her mind. Hey, Elena was only human. Not just human, but a teenager; she couldn't help but be distracted by Damon. She got out of bed and got some clothes from the closet. She looked at Damon, who had perched himself on the window seat, with her clothes in her hand, waiting.

Damon looked around the room before meeting her gaze. "What?"

She held her clothes up, "I need to get dressed."

Damon looked at the clothes and then back at her, "Oh, well, please don't let my presence keep you from getting dressed. By all means, go ahead," he smiled at her.

She huffed and said, "Dick," before walking into the bathroom and closing the door behind her.

When she came out, she said, "So, what are we going to do today?"

Damon thought, "How about Atlanta?"

Elena shook her head, "No way. I do _not _want to talk some ravenous vampire out of killing you."

"True…"

"Why don't we just stay here? Just talk."

"Talk? _Why?"_ Damon asked. But, honestly, he was stuck on the word _just_. _Talking _sounded like a great idea. But _just _talking…not really.

Elena sat on the bed, "Because. Yeah, we know each other. Pretty well. Especially from all the death experiences and crap, but…honestly? I hardly know you Damon. What are you into? Other than girls, killing people, and sex?"

"_Other _than girls, killing people, and sex? Well, that hardly gives me anything to choose from…" He was into _Elena_. But, she was a girl. So, did that count?

Elena sighed, "Here. Let me make it easier for you. Tell me something I don't know about you."

Damon leaned back, "Oh, well, I'm—no. I was gonna say I was a virgin, but that would be a lie."

"Possibly the biggest lie in history, Damon." Elena thought. Now that she came to think about it, she couldn't think of a girl that Damon hadn't slept with except for Bonnie and…her. Even though Damon was obviously trying to mess around with Bonnie a while back just for the hell of it. Elena couldn't remember Damon even _trying _to get her to fall for him except for when they had just met and he tried to use compulsion, but instead got a face full of Elena's palm.

"Okay, how about this? Did you know…that I'm musical?"

That spiked her interest. "Really?"

"Oh, yeah. I can sing the _hell _out of Taylor Swift," he smiled playfully at her. Elena and Damon laughed. "No, but seriously. I can play a couple instruments. Over the years, I got bored."

"What do you play?" Elena asked, interested. She had no idea Damon was musical.

"I'm best at piano, and don't you _dare _compare me to that wussy 107 year old virgin Edward Cullen. I can also play guitar. And I've even tried my hand at the organ, violin, and, hell, I was pretty damn good at the banjo, too." He laughed, "But, don't you _dare _tell anyone. _Nobody _knows. You'd be surprised at when I turn to when I'm bored and there aren't any women around."

Elena was truly shocked. Damon+banjo=does not compute. _But, then again, everyone turns to something out of boredom,_ she thought. Not too long ago, she was writing in a cemetery. That showed her a whole new side of Damon. And she…_liked _it.

They talked all day. Sadly, it reminded her slightly of when she and Stefan talked all night long. But, this was different. Something about Damon made her feel…natural. She could totally be herself. She had been when she was around Stefan, but she still kept watch on what she said, did, and how she looked. With Damon, she was…totally and completely herself. And, he was himself with her, too.

Maybe she really could heal…but only with Damon by her side.

_Whatchya think? This is kind of a fluff chapter, but don't worry, things are coming up. Elena just might get a visit from a certain Original in the next update, so hang tight! _

_Review please!_


	6. Anywhere but Here

_**Hello, fellow earthlings, readers, and writers! I'm excited, because I checked my traffic for this story, and it's up in the 2,000s! YAY! But…I still want reviews. There are still some lurkers…LET YOUR OPINION BE KNOWN! **_

_**I also want to say THANK YOU for the WONDERFUL reviews from xXGoldie12Xx! It means a lot! And I don't normally mention any of my reviewers in particular, but I couldn't help myself for this one. xXGoldie12Xx decided to review every chapter because I "deserve it". So THANK YOU!**_

_**I loooove me some reviews! 3333**_

_Damon and Elena just arrived at the boarding house. Damon immediately made his way to the den, poured himself a glass of bourbon, and sat on the couch. Elena made her way to the couch, but somehow, tripped on the way. Damon set down his bourbon and flashed over to Elena and just barely caught her. His gaze landed on hers and he saw an emotion in them that he hadn't seen before. Want. Need. Lust. _

_After about two seconds of hesitation, Damon, still leaning over her, kissed her. For the first time. At least, for the first time without him being in a drunken stupor. He prepared himself for her to pull back and say, "It's Stefan. It will always be Stefan."_

_But she didn't. She kissed him back with an intensity that rivaled his own. Without leaving her lips, he pulled her on to the couch. He kissed her neck, her shoulders, her exquisitely shaped collar bone, and then back to her soft, warm, pink lips. Her hands tangled in his midnight black hair as Damon gripped her shirt and ripped it clean off of her. Elena gasped and kissed him again, harder. _

_Damon laid down on the couch, Elena on top of her. His hands trailed across her bare back, around to her stomach, loving how her warm skin sent an electric shock up his fingertips and through his entire body. His hand trailed slowly up her torso._

_Elena shuddered and pounced on him once more when he gripped her breast. Her fingers, more nimble than he thought possible, quickly unbuttoned his black silk shirt and pulled it off of him. She chucked it across the room before her delicate hands trailed up his finely toned chest._

_They continued until he finally felt her bare skin on his. This was it. This was what he had waited for ever since he met Elena, and it had only intensified as his feelings for her grew to a ridiculous level. Then, Damon made love to her with an explosion of passion that could've burned the entire boarding house down._

_He would never have noticed._

"Damon? Damon, wake up. Yeesh, you sleep like the dead. No pun intended," Elena's voice permeated through Damon's dreams, and he woke up. _Damn, it was that dream _again, he thought.

He was practically drunk with her presence already, and waking up next to her in bed was _not _going to help. He opened his eyes to see her sitting next to him in a deep purple tank top—his favorite color on her—and little white shorts. Her dark brown hair was pulled back in a ponytail, and her eyes glistened with amusement. "What on _earth _could be so interesting about sleep to do it for 14 hours?"

_The fact that every time I go to sleep I get to see you naked, _he thought, but he pushed it away from his mind. "I don't know," he said drowsily.

Elena smiled whole-heartedly, "So, what are we going to do today?"

Damon sat up. "First, I have to go to the boarding house to get a change of clothes. What would Vampire Barbie, Witchy, and your little brother think?" He grinned mischievously. Elena smacked him with a pillow. "I'll be back in thirty minutes tops."

"Okay," she smiled at him. She was in an oddly good mood today. The best she'd been in since Stefan betrayed her, even though she still hurt inside.

"I'll be back," Damon said in a playful sing song voice before he jumped out her window.

Elena smiled, but immediately felt emptiness as soon as Damon left. What was wrong with her? She never felt Damon made her happy before. She normally felt like if he was near her any longer she would start ripping her hair out by the roots.

But that was changing.

Just to do something, she went downstairs to eat something. As soon as she turned the corner, though, she came face to face with Elijah.

"Hello, Elena," he said pleasantly with a smile.

Elena's heart dropped to the floor. "What do you want?"

He smiled, "I want you to stay put."

"What?" she asked confused.

"I want to kill Klaus, and I need you to lure him out. By staying put."

"Oh, so how do I know you're not lying?"

"Because. If I was, you and all your little friends would be long dead by now. Instead, I'm here and I'm prepared to offer you a deal."

That spiked her interest, "What kind of deal?"

"Stay put. Don't do anything to get yourself killed, and I'll make sure your friends stay safe, too. Then, when Klaus comes, I kill him."

"Just like that?" The idea of just killing Klaus was hard to believe.

Elijah nodded. "Just like that."

"I want to add my own condition," she said before she thought about what she was saying. Her heart hurt just thinking about it. But, she still loved him too much just to let him rot in that tomb.

Elijah raised his eyebrows, "We're negotiating now?"

Elena told her condition, and the more she talked, the more her good mood was killed.

Damon came back to Elena's house in exactly 30 minutes. He felt much better after a shower, clean clothes, and a nice glass of bourbon. When he climbed up into her bedroom, he immediately caught the scent.

_Elijah. _

Damon shot through the room and downstairs to find Elena sitting on the table. "What happened?" he snarled.

"Elijah came."

"And?" he said through clenched teeth.

Elena just stared at nothing and said unemotionally, "We made a deal." That put a big question mark in his mind, but wasn't enough to take him off his guard.

"What _kind _of deal?"

"I stay put, go on with my normal life, and when Klaus comes for me, Elijah will kill him."

"Just like that?"

"Just like that."

"And what did he give you in return?" Damon felt a nagging in the back of his mind that he honestly didn't want to know.

"That all the people I love will be safe, and—" she paused. Did she want to tell Damon this? Honestly, no. She knew he would react badly. She knew that he would think that she was so in love with Stefan that she would take him back no matter what he did.

Even though that wasn't necessarily true. She still loved him. But she didn't even want to see him, it would hurt too much. She just didn't want him to die. Was that so bad?

But she knew she had to tell him. He had a right to know.

"And?" Damon pushed.

"And for him to release the tomb spell so…_Stefan_…can get out." Damon felt like one of those little cartoons that had just got hit by a falling piano. Why would she take him back after all this? After all that they'd been through and done in a matter of a couple of days? He had practically opened up his soul, what little he had, for her to see, and she had just thrown it back in his face. Damon was more hurt than he ever thought he would be. So much so that he couldn't even think of a snappy comeback.

And that hadn't happened in over 100 years.

All that could come out was, "Oh, I see." Elena came out of her trance and looked at him with sad, anguished eyes. She couldn't believe the hurt in his voice. And she couldn't believe that he hadn't gotten mad and lashed out at her.

Damon eventually unfroze from his position and walked towards the door. Elena jumped up, "Where are you going?" she asked, worried. She didn't want him to leave. She didn't want him to ever leave.

Damon didn't say anything.

Elena ran around the couch and towards him, "Where are you going?" she asked again, more hysterical than before.

Damon didn't look at her, he couldn't look at her. It hurt too much. He just opened the door and whispered, "Anywhere but here," before walking out the house and away from hurt.

_**Review please! And, just in case you're wondering or confused, I've changed the plot around a little bit, obviously, but I still have some things that happened in the show, just changed to work with my plot.**_

_**TWENTY reviews to continue!**_


	7. Ease the Hurt

_**Okay, so this might be an emotional chapter. I like what's going to happen, but I still kind of wish it didn't have to happen…if that makes any sense. : (**_

Elena stared at the front door that Damon had just slammed in her face. All of her feelings about Stefan that Damon had numbed boiled inside her, but now her regret and sorrow over Damon was there, too. She shot up the stairs and into her room, almost running into Jeremy in the process. She slammed the door shut and locked it.

"Elena! What happened?" Jeremy said, his voice muffled from the door.

Elena collapsed onto her bed, "Leave me the hell alone!" She buried her face in pillows and sobbed.

"Elena! Elena!" Jeremy called, but eventually he gave up.

Why had she been so stupid? She _knew _it would hurt Damon, but she told him anyway! Why had she even told Elijah to set Stefan free _anyway?_ She sobbed her heart and soul out onto her pillow until she fell into a deep sleep.

Damon walked aimlessly through the graveyard, a glass of bourbon in his hand. To be in fact, his _eighth _glass of bourbon. His head buzzed, but he didn't care.

Why had she done this to him? She must have known what would've happened. Even though Damon tried, he couldn't help but fall into his old ways because of grief. Why couldn't she just see what was right in front her? Didn't she realize that Damon loved her more than Stefan ever did? More than Stefan _ever _could?

She apparently didn't.

It was around 4 in the afternoon, so the temperature was slowly decreasing as night fell. Damon looked up from his feet to see a blonde haired blue eyed girl, around her twenties, kneeling by a grave marker. Damon sauntered over to her.

The girl looked up and saw him. Her eyes widened. Damon could see in her eyes her immediate lust for him. But he didn't want her. He wanted Elena. "Hi," she said. Her voice was high and pretty, kind of like bells.

Damon smiled seductively at her, or at least tried as best he could through his drunken stupor. "Hi." Apparently, his smile was a success, because her eyes lit up with interest and he watched them slide up and down his body. "Nice place to think, huh?" he said.

"Yeah, I come here all the time. Not just to visit, but to just think." Damon looked at the tombstone, it said _Mary Williams_.

"Is that your mother?" The girl looked at the tombstone and smiled sadly.

"Yeah."

"What's your name?"

"Carol," she said, getting up.

"Do you miss your mother, Carol?" Damon's bloodlust rose tremendously.

Carol closed her eyes, "Yes. A lot."

"You know, you'll see her again," Damon edged closer to her.

"You think so?" Her eyes opened again, they were hopeful.

"Yep." Damon flashed in front of her, frightening her. "Don't move," he said, compelling her. Carol started breathing heavily, her large blue eyes flitting around, terrified.

"What did you do to me?" She stayed completely still.

Damon ignored her, "I need you to listen to me, Carol. Because if you don't, I might have to kill you."

Her eyes widened and she burst into tears, "Please don't!" she pleaded.

"It all depends if you listen," he slurred. "Now," he put his hands on her shoulder, "I'm sad, Carol."

"Why are you sad?" she asked, still breathing hard.

"Because I can't be with the woman I love."

"Why can't you be with her?" she stuttered in fright.

"Because I am a messed up, alcoholic, murderous vampire, and she's human." Carol started crying even harder now. "And, if I was human, she might have loved me. But she won't. Not when I am what I am," he paused," Now, _Stefan,_ he's everything she wants. Even though he betrayed her. Even though he _is _a vampire. But, she still loves him because he isn't _me._"

"M-maybe she does love you," Carol said, tears all dried up.

"No, she doesn't. But, the truth is, Carol, is that I'm not human. And I miss it. You don't know _how _much I miss it," his voice broke. He could feel himself begin to tear up—one of those rare moments. He couldn't help it. It just hurt too much. 146 years of hurt was built up inside him, and he couldn't handle it anymore. "But…it doesn't matter. Because I never _will _be human again. And I never will have her…_that's _my secret, Carol."

"I w-won't tell anybody," she whispered.

Damon looked into her blue eyes and said, "No, you won't…because I'm going to kill you." Her eyes widened and she shrieked, "Please! Please, don't! Please don't kill me! I don't want to die!"

"But, Carol…I have to. I have to...," he whispered as he felt the blood rush. He could feel his appearance change, his fangs emerge. Carol was screaming now. It echoed through the graveyard like a wolf's howl. His head bowed towards her neck and he bit down. Carol's shriek got higher. He felt her warm blood slide down his throat.

He hated that he was going to kill Carol. Elena didn't want him to kill.

But…it eased the hurt. And that's all he wanted. To ease the hurt.

Elena awoke with a start. Slowly, she got up and walked to her mirror. Her makeup was smeared all across her face like a raccoon. She pulled her hair out of the now messy ponytail.

She had ruined everything. She knew she could've healed with Damon by her side, but now that he was gone, it felt like her whole life came to a halt.

She walked over to her dresser and glanced at the clock: 11:00 PM. She opened a drawer halfheartedly and rummaged through her pajama drawer for some soft, comforting PJs.

Her heart stopped when she heard a familiar voice say, "Elena," behind her.

She whipped around, wanting to see beautiful icy blue eyes. But, she came face to face with also very familiar beautiful _green_ eyes. Her heart stopped.

She let out a shaky breath. "Stefan."

_**Ooh, cliffie! I know, I know, this chapter is a big downer. It even put me in a bad mood. But, I had to. My writing instincts were screaming at me. I hate to see Damon that way in any episode, so writing it made me SUPER sad. **_

_**If you wanna see what happens soon, I better have 25 reviews!**_


	8. Prove It

_**Okay, so I want to clear something up from the last chapter. Some of my reviews made me realize that the way I wrote it made it seem like Elena was dreaming about Damon killing Carol. It wasn't a dream. I just jumped from Elena falling asleep, to Damon, and then Elena waking up. I'm sorry that it didn't come out exactly how I wanted it to. SO…when I switch settings and such, I will put ***TVD***, just to clarify. Lol. **_

_**This chapter is still kind of sad, even though I like it. I kind of get to go into Stefan's personality a bit, and show a different side of him. It also shows a very different side of Elena, so I hope you enjoy it. This is one of those chapters where you'll either love it…or you'll hate it.**_

_**I hope you love it!**_

"Stefan," Elena breathed, her heart pounding.

Stefan looked just as beautiful as ever with his golden hair and magnificent green eyes and his tremendous, sexy build, but he wore a heart wrenchingly sad—but still seriously beautiful—on his face. His eyes stared into her so intensely, she felt like he would burn a hole right through her. "Elena."

"Well, you're out of the tomb. What happened to Katherine?" She spat Katherine's name in disgust.

Stefan took a few steps toward her. "Elijah compelled her to stay in there." His face was expressionless.

"Oh, well, I guess you better find a way to get her out; she can't be too far from desiccation."

"I don't want to get her out, Elena." That surprised her.

"Oh, really? Why?"

"Because, the world is better off without her."

"Oh, so if that's true, why were you two getting naked in the back of a freaking _tomb?"_ Elena's sadness was changed to anger and rage in a nano second. _He _did this. It was _his _fault!

Stefan's eyes widened at her outburst then showed complete remorse and guilt. "Elena, I'm sorry."

"Why, Stefan? Why? Why would you do that to me? Lead me on, tell me you love me, then go and have _sex _with the woman who looks identical to me! Is that all I am to you? Is that all you want me for? My body and sex?"

"Elena, I _do _love you!" Stefan made his way to her, but Elena stopped him.

"_No! _You obviously don't!"

His eyes were close to tears, but Elena was so filled with rage that she didn't care. "Elena, I do! I do! I love you so much I can hardly bear it!"

"Prove it!" Elena shrieked.

Then, Stefan was on her, kissing her ferociously. Elena's brain short circuited and she was kissing him back.

It was like a war in her head. One half was screaming, "Oh, God, I still love him so much!" and the other half screamed, "But I'm hurting Damon! I'm _hurting _him!"

The Damon side won.

Elena mustered all her strength and shoved Stefan away. "No! Prove it by _telling _me. Do you honestly love me? Or do you just love my body? Because, obviously, you can get the same experience with Katherine. And, boy, did you take advantage of it!"

"Elena, I—" he stopped and sniffed. Elena stared at him furiously as he turned around and smelled her bed. "Has…has Damon been here?"

"Yes, of course."

"Has he been in your bed?"

"Yeah...," she said, unknowing at what he was getting at.

"Elena! How could you do that?" Stefan flashed in front of her.

"Do what?"

His eyes flashed, "I can't _believe _I'm gone for a few days and you give in to Damon and let him sleep with you! Are you _crazy?"_

Stefan thought…that…_oh._ "You're yelling at me? What's _your _excuse? After what you did to me, you have the balls to tell me what I should or should not do? I can do anything I want! You know why? Because _you _showed me that I shouldn't wait for you! Because you _obviously _didn't wait for me!"

"Elena—"

"No! I didn't have sex with Damon, Stefan! I asked him to stay with me the night you _broke my heart _and he held me until I fell asleep!"

"Elena I didn't—"

"How _dare _you condemn Damon and then yell at me! I never want to see you again! Now you get the hell out of my house!"

"Elena—"

"Get _OUT!"_ Elena shrieked and chucked a book at him as hard as she could.

Stefan, of course, caught it and immediately dropped the book. He looked…heartbroken. But Elena was to enraged to notice, let alone care.

With a flash, he was out the window. Elena slammed it shut and fell on her bed.

She shrieked in her pillow until her throat couldn't handle it anymore.

***TVD***

Damon lounged on the couch with a glass of blood in his hand and stared at nothing. He didn't really feel anything at the moment…he was too drunk with alcohol and blood to feel, honestly.

He felt the vibrations of the slam of the door and heard it at the same time. He heard the footsteps speed up into a run and stop suddenly behind him.

"Damon."

Damon smiled and sluggishly turned his head to see his little bunny eater brother. "Well, if it isn't Saint _Stefan_, the shining night in armor, coming to rescue the princess Elena from the horrible emotional pit of despair she's in."

Suddenly, Stefan pinned him to the wall, fangs bared. "What did you do?" he snarled.

"What did _I _do? I did nothing. Except be there for her when her life came to a stuttering halt because you two lovebirds were getting down and dirty in a cave."

Stefan edged a stake up Damon's side. "I wouldn't do anything stupid, if I were you," Stefan whispered murderously.

Damon internally laughed. Whether Steffy had been drinking human blood or not, Damon was still stronger and faster. Honestly, the human blood built up over the years, making him stronger than Stefan could dream of being. Damon grabbed the stake and flipped around, now cornering Stefan, stake pointed at his chest. "I'm gonna shove this stake right through your _heart,_" Damon snarled.

"Go ahead. You've already taken away everything I live for now."

"Oh, you mean Elena? Oh, I couldn't ever take her away from you. She'd have to do it on her _own _terms. And, obviously, she hasn't, considering she made Elijah release the spell for you to get out."

"She kicked me out of her house."

Damon laughed, "Oh, well that sucks." Elena kicked Buzz Kill Bob out, huh? Maybe he _could _muster up the strength to face her again…eventually.

Stefan growled. "Oh, just go to your room, Steffy. I honestly don't want to talk to you right now, and I'm sure we can have a heart to heart later. I won't kill you for hurting Elena, but if you do something stupid, you _will _wake up finding a stake in your chest." Damon then slung the stake across the room and stormed out, leaving Stefan alone.

He knew what he did. And he regretted it. _Oh _how he regretted it. And, now, Elena didn't love him anymore, and it was his own fault. Stefan then just went to his room and shut the door, trying to shut out the world.

***TVD***

Eventually, Elena came out of her room. Jenna was already gone, and she didn't know where Jeremy was. She ran her fingers through her hair and knocked on his door. "Jer?"

No answer.

"Jeremy?" She knocked again. Then, she opened the door.

And screamed.

Jeremy was on the ground, eyes open, and throat slashed.

Elijah had failed to keep his deal.

_**Ooh, another cliffie! Sorry, guys! Another downer, I know, I know. But, I've got to incorporate the ups and downs, right? **_

_**So, will Jeremy survive? Was it a supernatural death? Or not? **_

_**I totally abused the italics button on my computer for this chapter. I hope I wasn't too out of character for Stefan, but I tried, guys. Please review!**_

_**I loved the amount of reviews I've gotten! It's definitely improved! But…I still want more readers!**_

_**45 reviews to continue!**_


	9. Silent Tears

_**Okay, so I want you to either write in the reviews or my forum about what YOU think should happen in this story. I want your opinion. PLEASE! Because I want to make this story the best it can be. Thanks. **____** Anyway, on with the story. I kind of left you with a cliffie and all with the whole Jeremy thing. **_

Elena collapsed to her knees next to Jeremy and immediately checked his hand for his ring. Her anxious eyes darted to his limp hands.

She let out a huge sigh of relief. The ring was still on his finger. Elena wasn't huge on religion, but she thanked God with all that she had that Jeremy would be okay.

Even though he was dead as a doornail at the moment.

Elena jumped when she heard Jeremy's phone ring. She quickly patted his pockets until she found it in the front of his jacket.

_Bonnie._

Oh, she was gonna freak. "Bonnie?" she said, trying to keep from sounding nervous.

"Elena? Holy shit, I cannot _believe _that Elijah kept his end of the deal…wait, why are you answering Jeremy's phone? Where is he?"

"What do you mean he 'kept his end of the deal'?"

"I was, like, _herded _by about five vampires. I tried to incapacitate them, but I wasn't strong enough for all five of them. They were about to _kill _me, Elena, but Luka and his dad came and saved me! I swear I thought Elijah was bluffing, but I'm not so sure now."

"Oh, he was bluffing."

Bonnie was silent for a moment before saying, "What do you mean?"

"Okay, don't freak Bonnie, but just…but just come over here…you'll see. It's, uh, it's Jeremy."

Elena heard Bonnie suck in air, "What about Jeremy?" her voice was quiet.

"Just get over here. He will be alright."

"_Will _be?" her voice began to rise.

"Just come over, Bonnie. I'll see you soon." She hung up before she was asked more questions. She tossed his iPhone on the bed and looked at Jeremy's horrid state. To make it a little better, she got a wet washcloth and tried her best to wipe up all the blood, and she attempted to make him lay on the floor at a less terrifying position. Also, she shut his eyes, mainly because it was just plain creepy.

Elena prayed that Jeremy would…uh…be alive before Bonnie got there.

"Elena? Elena?" Elena could hear Bonnie coming up the stairs and towards Jeremy's room. He _still _hadn't woken up yet. Bonnie opened the door, "Elena, what happened? Where's Jer—" Bonnie's eyes landed on Jeremy's still form. Her eyes widened to the size of golf balls before she screamed bloody murder.

Tears started spewing from her eyes as she cried hysterically. "Oh, God, no! How could this have happened? No! No! _NO!_"

"Bonnie! Calm down! He has his ring on!"

Through her tears and streaming makeup, she said, "What?"

"He's got his ring on! He can't die, remember?"

Bonnie breathed heavily and nodded. "B…but how could this happen? I was saved, but Jeremy wasn't?"

Elena shook her head, "I don't know. Maybe they knew Jer had the ring so they saved you instead." Bonnie wiped her eyes and nodded. She kneeled next to Jeremy and held his hand, silent tears streaming down her face.

Elena got up and pulled out her phone. "I need to call Damon."

"Why isn't he here? He hasn't left your side in days."

"Uh…part of the deal was for Elijah to get Stefan out." Bonnie's mouth hung open. "What?" she asked bluntly.

"I didn't take him back, Bonnie! I just…I still love him too much to have let him rot in there with _her._"

Bonnie looked down to Jeremy and mumbled, "I'm sure he wouldn't have minded."

Elena's eyes sent daggers to her before she stomped out of the room and dialed Damon's number.

It was on its last ring before he answered. His melodic voice immediately made Elena feel a bit more at ease, even though what he said and how he said was completely cold and rude. "What is it?"

Elena's heart raced as she tried to recover what she meant to say. What was wrong with her? Was she under _that _much stress? "Uh…I…I need you to come over."

There was a long silence that agonized Elena before he finally said, "Why?"

"Jeremy was killed."

"Why do you need me to come over there? He'll be fine," his voice was dead and dull. Elena didn't like that. Sure, Damon talked like that to almost everyone. But not to her.

"Please, Damon," she said. No, Jeremy didn't really him, but…_Elena_ needed him. She felt like she was coming apart at the seams.

Damon sighed on the other end and said, "Fine. Give me 5 minutes."

Elena heard a large gasp then, "Elena!" from Jeremy's room.

"Make it 3 minutes," Damon said before the line went dead.

Elena shoved her phone in her pocket and ran into the room, immediately seeing Bonnie crouched over a gasping Jeremy. "Jeremy!" Elena exclaimed. She knelt by her little brother and gave him a big hug. Jeremy chuckled slightly.

"What the _hell _happened?" Bonnie and Elena said at the same time.

Jeremy just shook his head, "I don't know. Give me a second, it takes me a little bit to reorient myself with everything."

"God, it's dark in here. It's like a freaking cave." Bonnie jumped up and opened the curtains.

Jeremy squinted and flinched, "Ow, close them. Close them." The two girls looked at each other, sure that wasn't normal, before Bonnie shut them. Jeremy leaned his head back on the floor and said with a large breath, "Gosh, I feel weird."

"Damon to the rescue," that same deep baritone voice that made Elena feel all nice but stutter and nervous at the same time entered the room. Elena looked up to see beautifully black hair slightly swept above his magnificent stormy blue eyes, an arrogant side smile, and a wonderful muscled body clad in black combat boots, dark wash jeans, a black V-neck T-shirt, and a leather jacket.

"Damon!" And before she knew it—and before she could stop herself—she jumped up and gave him a huge hug.

As always, Damon stood as still as a statue. Already into the hug and already humiliated, Elena kept her arms around him and whispered to him, "I'm _so _sorry."

Slowly, _very _slowly—and to everyone's surprise—his arms went around her waist in a small, but still there embrace. He pulled back to look her in the eyes. For once, his eyes were soft and caring, but Elena could still see the anguish and hurt behind it all. He studied her face for a moment and said, "Apology accepted."

Then they separated and Damon was back to business. He went over to Jeremy, ignoring the odd stares from Bonnie and him, and said, "Can you stand?"

Jeremy looked at him and said, "Uh, yeah." Kind of clumsily, he got up and sat on the bed. Bonnie sat next to him.

"What happened?"

Jeremy shook his head, "I still can't remember exactly."

Elena spoke up, "I walked into his room and found him on the floor with his throat cut. I called Bonnie over, and then when Bonnie opened the curtains, he flinched and told us to close them."

Damon's head swiveled to meet Elena's gaze. Elena could see something click in his head.

Damon grabbed Jeremy's head and looked hard into his eyes.

"_Shit!" _he exclaimed.

"What?" all three of them said.

Damon looked around the room, fire blazing in his eyes.

"He's transitioning."

_**Ooh! Is Jeremy going to be a vampire? To find out I must have 50 reviews!**_

_**I know, I'm evil, Mwahahahahaha!**_

_**Oh, and don't forget to tell me what YOU think should happen in this story!**_


	10. Never Felt Before

_**I still want your opinion! What do YOU want to happen? Maybe something with Jenna, Matt, a relapse of Stefan's addiction to human blood? I want to know! If I like it, YOUR idea might be used! And yeah, I know, I sound like a corny commercial, don't I? Lol. **_

_**Back to the daily drama of the Power of Love! And, I might add something special just for the sake of today being Valentine's Day! 3 3 Too bad I was totally alone for yet another Valentine's Day. But, then again, I'm WAY to busy for a boyfriend.**_

_**However, I could totally make an exception for a certain Mr. Kinda Tall, Dark, Fanged, and Handsome… **___

_**Ugh, I'm rambling…ON with the show, I mean story! **_

"How is that possible? He had the ring on!" Elena exclaimed. Bonnie was basically on the floor, staring off into space, unable to speak. Probably the worst thing that could've happened to Jeremy had happened, in her eyes.

Damon gazed at Elena, eyes smoldering, before returning his attention back to a visibly shocked Jeremy. He studied his eyes again. "I'm not sure. However, I _am _sure he's transitioning, but it's still weird."

"Weird?"

"It's like he's transitioning but he's not. Like, right in between. I'm not sure what's going on."

It didn't click with anyone else, but it was clear as day to Elena, "It's like a war. The ring is trying to keep him human, but the vampire blood is trying to make him a vampire."

That made everyone snap out of their daze.

Damon's eyes flashed, making Elena's spine tingle. "You're right."

"What do we do?" Bonnie asked, voice slightly breaking.

"I'm not sure. I don't know what will happen if he doesn't consume human blood; whether he'll die or not." Bonnie's head dropped and she mumbled something unintelligible. Jeremy was deathly quiet and pale. It was quiet for a long time. They didn't know what to do.

Damon, however, had an idea. But Elena would hate it. They needed information, if this had happened before, they needed to know what was going on…and how to stop it. "Bonnie, stay with Jeremy. Try some of your witchy voodoo on him and see what happens. Elena, come with me." Damon gripped Elena's wrist and drug her out the room and out the house before anyone could ask anything.

"Damon! Let go of me!" He released her arm. "Where are we going?"

Damon looked back at her, his eyes—blazing with intensity—raked up Elena from her feet to the top of her head. She was just too beautiful for Damon's own good. He couldn't take it anymore. Yes, they had to save Jeremy. But…before they did anything, Damon had to get this off his chest. "Why did you let Stefan out of the tomb, Elena?"

"I thought you had forgiven me."

"Yes, but I still want to know _why_." He _had _to know she had feelings for him. Damon knew well that Elena still loved Stefan. He wasn't stupid. But…did Elena not take Stefan back because she felt something for _Damon? _He had to know.

"I…uh…Damon, I still love him too much to just have let him desiccate in a tomb."

Damon knew that already! "Why didn't you take him back?"

His questioning was making Elena uncomfortable. Why did he even want to know? Honestly, Elena didn't really know why she hadn't taken him back. Did she love him too much to let him starve but she didn't love him enough to take him back? "Because…because he…because he yelled at me for having sex with you."

Damon did a double take. "Did I miss something?" Damon was certain he would remember making love to _Elena_, of all people.

"Stefan came to my room and smelled your scent on my sheets, and immediately thought I had hooked up with you. He got angry and yelled at me that I was crazy that I let you sleep with me. He made me so…so _angry_ that he condemned you and was yelling at me for something false. Why would I want to take someone back who had done what he did? I admit, I was close to…but that was before he started yelling about you and me." Elena's eyes held Damon's before they dropped to her feet.

Damon's head was reeling. So, she didn't take him back because his baby bunny eating brother was slamming him? What did that mean?

"I'm sorry Damon." Damon could see the beginnings of tears in her eyes. Hesitant to touch a woman for the first time in his life, he slowly took a flyaway strand of hair and tucked it behind her ear. Elena felt a tingle go up her spine from his touch.

"I already told you." Then, to both of their surprise, he slowly kissed her on the forehead, his lips slowly pressing against her silky olive skin. He pulled away and with his eyes burning into hers, "Apology accepted." Then turned around and walked towards Elena's car.

Elena just stood there like her feet had burned into the walkway. That slight little kiss, that sweet gesture, had sent adrenaline and something close to lightning shooting through her body from her forehead to her toes.

She had never felt that before. Not even with Stefan.

"Coming?" Damon called.

"Uh, yeah." Elena awkwardly walked over to her car and got in the passenger side. "Where are we going, exactly?"

Damon stuck the key in the ignition and revved the car to life. He sighed, "You're not gonna like it."

"Where are we going?" Elena pressed, desperate to get that tingly feeling to go away.

"We're going to talk to Isobel."

***TVD***

Bonnie was trying desperately to heal Jeremy of whatever she was trying to heal him of. She wasn't exactly sure. She sat in a chair, leaning over him on the bed. His eyes were closed and he was trying to stay relaxed.

Bonnie tried with everything she had, and for the first time in a long time, she felt a slight trickle of blood come from her nose.

Jeremy sniffed and opened his eyes, immediately spotting Bonnie's slight nosebleed. Before he noticed what he was doing, he reached over and touched the trickle of blood that had flowed to her top lip. Bonnie stared and watched in horror, unable to say anything. Jeremy stared at the bright red blood on his fingertip curiously and tapped it to his tongue.

It tasted _good._ He sucked the rest of it off his index finger.

Then, shooting pain shot up his jaw and his head felt like it was about to explode. He moaned, "Oh, God, what's _happening _to me?"

Trying to keep from passing out, Bonnie wiped the rest of the blood on her sleeve and watched him. "Jeremy, what do I do? What do I _do?_"

Jeremy could only moan as his mouth smarted in horrific pain and his head pounded.

Bonnie watched in horror as she saw fangs emerge in his mouth, his eyes turn bloody, and veins around his eyes raise on his skin. Jeremy moaned in pain until it suddenly stopped. He looked at Bonnie, who was now out of the chair and backed into the wall, and could smell the slight remnants of Bonnie's nosebleed.

Without one thought, he lunged for her, fangs first.

_**Ooh, I know it's another cliffhanger, I just couldn't help myself. I totally wanted Damon to **_**really**_** kiss Elena, just because of the Valentine's Day aura floating through the air, but my writing instincts told me to degrade it to a forehead kiss, which I think turned out fine and reasonable. I also loved Elena's reaction. SOOOO what's going to happen to Jeremy and Bonnie for that matter? And what about the whole ring/vampire blood war going on inside of Jeremy. Has the vampire blood won? Or will the ring get a second wind?**_

_**Oh, I sound so retarded writing that, but you get the picture. **_

_**Review please! And I want what YOU think should happen in the Power of Love!**_


	11. Deciphering Dreams

_**Okay, I'm excited about this chapter. Why? I'm not quite sure. Lol. I just love writing this story though. Oh, and I want you to tell me what you think. After this story unfolds, I want to start a Maximum Ride story called Flying Home. (Summary: Max was forced by the white coats to leave the flock or they would be killed. Six years later, what happens when Max escapes to find her first love, Fang, and her flock? And how will she tell Fang the secret that has been held up inside her for 10 months? Will they ever be together like they were before?) Would you guys read it? If you haven't read the Maximum Ride series by the amazing James Patterson, you should. It is absolutely phenomenal and pure genius.**_

_**Anyway, back to the Vampire Diaries…**_

_Elena walked through a magnificent garden, admiring the roses and elaborate statues. She shifted uncomfortably in her corset and dress she wore for the Founder's Day parade. She heard footsteps behind her and she whipped around to see her stalker._

_It was Damon, in an old fashioned button up white shirt, black trousers, suspenders, and he was holding a black hat. Instead of his normal badass black, straight hair, it was now curly. He looked absolutely wonderfully happy, something Elena had never seen in Damon before. He also had a much more innocent air about him._

_Damon? Innocent? _

"_Hello, Damon," she said, drawing her voice out. She smiled at him._

"_Hello, how are you this morning?" He smiled crookedly at her._

"_Wonderful. And you?"_

_He sent her a 1000-watt smile, "Amazing." He then gently grasped her gloved hand and bent down, pressing his lips to the pearly white silk. Only he could do that without looking stupid, with the exception of Stefan._

_Elena had to admit his sweet, flirty, no innuendoes attitude towards her made her feel at ease, but still fluttery at the same time. Elena had never witnessed this side of Damon. She wish she could have seen it long before now._

_A rustling in the bushes caught both of their attention. "Oh, I didn't know both of you were already out here." Elena's heart lurched in pain. It was Stefan. There he was, in the same get up as Damon, only he had brown trousers and a brown hat that looked like something Elena's great grandfather would've owned. "It's not our fault that you're lazy in the morning, brother," Damon said, a grin tugging at his lips._

_Stefan sneered at Damon lightheartedly then looked at Elena. His gaze was intense and made Elena feel uncomfortable, but she didn't show it. "How are you, Miss?" Stefan asked, practically staring into Elena's soul._

"_I'm wonderful now that two of my favorite people are here." She grinned flirtatiously at both of them. Both of them grinned back, playfulness lighting up their eyes._

_Stefan waved his hat, "Well, we're glad to be of service, Miss." Elena grinned and seized his hat. She smiled brightly at him and giggled. She then turned and ran into the garden maze. She heard Damon say, "Well? Chase her! That is obviously a girl who wants to be chased!" There was silence as she ran before she heard Damon said hastily, "Well, if you're not going to, _I _will!" Then laughter and pounding footsteps. Two sets of them. _

_Elena ran and turned a corner, only to see a waiting Stefan, grinning mischievously at her. He lunged and seized her around the waist, they laughed heartily. He turned her around and their gazes met. Before she could say anything, his head swooped down and kissed her gently, sweetly, on the lips. _

_Then the words he uttered next made Elena's heart stop. "I love you, Katherine."_

_Then suddenly, the amazing green eyes Elena was staring into turned into wonderfully beautiful blue eyes and she was staring into the face of Damon. _

_He looked at her warily then said, total sincerity in his voice. "I love you, Elena."_

Elena woke up with a gasp. She opened her eyes to see grass and trees passing at about 60 miles an hour. She sat up in the seat, pulling her face from the window. "Welcome back to reality, sleepyhead." Elena yelped and whipped her head around to see Damon grinning at her. He looked at her quizzically, "A little jumpy, are we?"

Elena just shook her head and sighed.

What had _that _been about? She had been _Katherine_ in her dream, way back when in 1864. And then Stefan had said he loved her. That had almost ripped her heart out yet again. Seeing him tell her, or _Katherine_, that he loved her made her hurt more than she had since the night at the tomb. Stefan loved Katherine, not her.

But, then, Damon had appeared, and stated that he had loved _her. Elena._ Not Katherine. Did he? He had never shown any sort of _love_. Sure, he tried to get in her pants…but didn't he try to do that with every girl? Yes, he did. He had never said that he loved Elena in particular.

But, then again, Damon wasn't Mr. Mushy Gushy. He didn't express his feelings that well. Did she feel the same way? Well, yeah. She loved him. But not in a romantic way, at least, that's what she thought. It more was a sister/brother love.

Now, she wasn't stupid. She couldn't help but admit that…she did feel something for him. She had a connection with Damon that she never had with Stefan. It was an understanding. They understood each other. They…loved each other?

"Anything wrong?" Damon's voice drug Elena's mind out of the clouds.

"N…no."

Damon snickered, "You expect me to believe that?"

"No. You can believe anything you want to."

To him, Elena's voice sounded almost…dead. Not exactly dead, but totally unemotional. Either she was so down in the dumps about Steffy, or she had her mind on something. "You know, Elena, I can't help if you don't tell me what's wrong."

"Nothing's wrong." Elena didn't want to tell him anything about her recent disturbing dreams.

"Elena," he looked away from the road and stared at Elena until she looked at him, "You can trust me."

His gaze bore into Elena and made her shiver, reminding Elena of how she felt when he had merely kissed her forehead.

And that was another thing. Why had she felt so…_alive_ when she felt his warm, soft lips touch her skin? She honestly…wanted more. She had felt whole, complete, and amazing.

But did she love him?

She wasn't sure.

Would she ever be sure?

***TVD***

Bonnie saw Jeremy lunge for her and she shrieked before she remembered. She was a witch. She could handle this. She stared into his eyes and he immediately hit the floor, moaning and holding his head.

"Stop…_stop!" _Jeremy exclaimed. It felt like if he pulled his hands away, he would find shards of his skull in his hands. The bloodlust immediately died, and he was himself again. At least, he _thought._ But he couldn't really think when his brain was exploding.

Bonnie stopped when she felt he wouldn't go after her again. She watched him, tears in her eyes. _Not Jeremy_, she thought. He was breathing hard, and he finally sat up on the floor. He looked close to tears. He hadn't wanted this. At one point, he did. But, now that he had Bonnie, he didn't want to even think of being a vampire. And now he had _attacked _her. Bonnie, of all people. "Bonnie, I'm _so _sorry, I didn't know what was happening…"

Bonnie sat down next to him. "Shh…shh…it's okay." He rest his head on the side of the bed and closed his eyes. Bonnie's fingers curled around the fabric of the curtains. With a hint of remorse, she gave it a yank and it fell, exposing the sun.

Bonnie expected Jeremy to start burning, his skin practically disintegrating before her eyes. But he didn't. He winced and covered his eyes. But his skin still stayed in its smooth condition. They looked at each other with a mixture of confusion and horror on their faces.

What was going to happen?

_**Tada! Please review! And tell me what you think of my Maximum Ride idea (see above) and tell me whether you think I should write it!**_

_**Ooh, some weird stuff going on with Jeremy…Didn't you love the episode when Bonnie says, "I remember you awkward phase, your emo phase…your druggie phase…and then over night you turned into this really hot guy whose really sweet—" "You think I'm hot?" LOL! Oh, yes I do think your hot Jeremy…**_

_**Ever realize how EVERY guy in that show is underwear model worthy?**_

_**REVIEW!**_


	12. Falling Apart

_**OKAY! SOOOOOO….I have a new story up! It is called Flying Home! It is a Maximum Ride Story! The summary is posted in the last chapter of this story, if you want to know what it is about. I will probably go back and forth with this story and that. So I will try to update both every week.**_

"When are we going to get there? God, I'm starving," Elena complained, leaning back in the passenger seat.

Damon shot her an amused sideways glance, "Me, too. Mind to be dinner?"

Elena scowled at him and he just chuckled in response. "Okay, since that form of dinner won't be provided, how about we go stop by a diner, and then go to Isobel?"

Elena glanced at the digital clock, "But, it'll be too late by then. It's already 15 till 9."

"Well, then we'll get a hotel room and go in the morning."

Elena thought about that. She wasn't sure she was exactly comfortable sharing a hotel room with Damon, but then she remembered that he had managed restrain himself when he slept in her bed, so she agreed.

Damon could feel the major sexual tension in the air. It had been there since he had harmlessly kissed her forehead. He could tell how shocked she was, and he was surprised by how he felt by that one tiny brush of his lips to her skin. He had never felt it before. Even after sleeping with who knows how many women over the years, he had never felt that odd feeling of adrenaline mixed with electricity running up and down his veins. It was amazing.

After about 10 minutes, Damon pulled into a little bar.

It was actually kind of deserted, which was better in a way. Elena and Damon sat down at the bar. They each ordered a burger, fries, and a beer. Damon pushed his thirst from his mind…it had been a full 24 hours before he'd fed.

"So, what do we plan on asking Isobel?"

Damon plopped a french fry in his mouth. He shrugged, "I don't know. She gave John the ring; John gave the ring to Jeremy. She might now the ring's little quirks." Elena sighed. She didn't want to deal with Damon's nonchalant nature and smartass comments. She needed an answer about her brother. And she needed it soon.

Elena pulled the pickles off her burger. Damon sighed, "You and your creepy dislike of pickles. Gah, you're crazy." He picked them up and dropped them in his mouth.

Damon finished his food first. He looked around the room and saw a pretty waitress taking orders in the corner of the bar. He turned back to Elena. "Hey, I'll be right back."

Elena looked at him, "Where are you going?"

"Either I eat now, or there is that slight possibility that you might get eaten later tonight. Just stay here and I'll be back in ten minutes."

_Oh_. Elena had forgotten that Damon hadn't had blood in at least 24 hours. She watched him walk up to a waitress who had just walked behind the cashier. She was pretty. _Really_ pretty. She had curly red hair and green eyes. She was tall and curvy. Elena thought it funny how Damon seemed to never go after anyone except young, pretty women.

But, when she thought about it, if _she _was a vampire, she would rather drink from good looking guys than anyone else. But she couldn't help some sort of emotion flare up in her.

Damon approached the pretty waitress. She looked up and her eyes widened. He could practically feel the lust rolling off of her. She cleared her throat and stood up straighter. "M-may I help you?"

"I think you can," Damon smiled flirtatiously at her and she swallowed nervously. "What's your name?"

"Tanya," she said.

"I'm Damon."

"It's nice to meet you, Damon." She smiled at him.

"Yes, it is."

Her eyebrows rose, "Cocky, much?"

Damon smiled. He had heard that many times before. "_Very_ much." She smiled. Damon leaned on the bar towards her and he could hear her heart rate rising. He stared into her eyes. "Come with me. Don't tell anyone."

Tanya's face went blank before she nodded and followed Damon out the back of the diner. Damon licked his lips.

Elena watched them disappear outside. She watched them in shock. She had to hold herself to the seat to keep from following them.

She couldn't handle what she had just seen. Damon just waltzes right up to that girl, flirts with her at a level that he hadn't even tried with her. Sure, he'd made a move when they were in the kitchen, but Damon hardly ever flirted with her anymore. It was weird.

Ten minutes later, they still hadn't returned. Elena eventually couldn't sit there anymore. She hopped off the stool and walked out the back of the diner. She was as quiet as possible. She turned her head to see that waitress girl, moaning in pleasure. She had a smile on her face and her eyes were closed. Damon's back was to Elena, his head bent forward with his mouth on the girl's neck.

Elena watched, feet planted to the floor. She couldn't tell what was going on with her. Watching him drink from that stranger infuriated Elena. And with every dopey little giggle coming from that girl's mouth, Elena grew even angrier. Elena saw Damon's head rise and turn slightly. His eyes were closed, so he apparently didn't notice her. She saw his mouth bloody and turned up in a smile.

Elena had to hold back a gasp. She had never seen him like that. She could see two fangs, clearly visible, in his mouth. He exhaled and brought his head back down to her neck.

Elena's eyes widened with anger. Sick of watching them, she quietly stormed back into the diner and waited for him.

About five minutes later, Damon waltzed back inside. He had a slight grin on his face, and he licked the corner of his mouth. He had to admit, that girl had tasted _good._ He restrained himself from just draining her. He had left her stumbling around out there, wondering what the heck had happened. He saw Elena watching him. She looked—angry. What had happened?

"You look happy," she said stiffly.

Damon shrugged, "Yeah, well, she tasted pretty good, I admit."

"I know," she said as she got off her stool and started walking towards the exit.

"Wait, what do you mean, you '_know'_?" They walked outside and to the car. Elena didn't say anything until they were both in the car.

"I…I could tell by how you were acting."

Damon studied her face. He knew she was lying through her teeth. Then, it hit him. "You saw us, didn't you?" He had thought he had smelled her out there, but he was enjoying Tanya so much, he didn't make sure.

Elena paused, "No."

The pause gave the truth away. Damon hit the steering wheel in frustration. "Damn it, Elena! Why would you go out there?"

"It had been over ten minutes. I didn't know what was going on. For all I knew, some vampire hell-bent on revenge had killed you."

"Well, obviously that didn't happen. No why are you so angry?"

Why _was _she so angry? "I…I don't know," Elena murmured.

"Let's just find a hotel," Damon stated and pulled out of the diner parking lot. Right when they pulled into a Holiday Inn, Elena's phone rang. She pulled it out of her coat pocket.

"It's Bonnie."

***TVD***

Bonnie stroked Jeremy's hair as he leaned over the toilet and wretched. "Bonnie?" Elena asked after the third ring.

"Elena, are you and Damon at Isobel's?"

"We'll be there in the morning. Why? Is Jeremy okay?"

"No. I don't know what's going on. I don't know what to do. I have no spells for this."

"What's happening?" Elena said just as Jeremy threw up more blood into the toilet.

"A couple of hours ago, he started having a fever. He would be hot, then cold, hot, then cold. I didn't know what to do, so I gave him a _really _small glass of blood. He drank it, and it brought his fever down. But, now he's throwing it back up. I don't know what to _do._ You _need _to get to Isobel!" Bonnie pleaded. She tried to ignore Jeremy's dry heaving.

"Bonnie, we'll be there as soon as we can. Just…just try some spells. As soon as we find out anything, I'll call you. Promise." Bonnie could hear hysteria starting to seep into Elena's voice.

"Please. Hurry." She hung up.

Through Jeremy's heavy breathing and coughing, choked on the blood, he forced out, "Bonnie. Please. Help." Then, he passed out cold.

Everything was falling apart.

_**TADA! Okay, please read and review! AND PLEASE read my new Maximum Ride story: Flying Home! I'm really excited about it! THANKS! R&R!**_


	13. Electrocution

_**Okay! So I'm excited about this chapter because of something you'll soon find out! SO READ and you'll see! :D :D :D**_

Bonnie stroked Jeremy's face affectionately as he slept. He had passed out about an hour ago, and she had carried him—well, dragged—onto his bed. She knew Jenna would be home soon, and she had no idea what to do. She just knew she had to keep her from coming home tonight.

Quickly, she pulled out her phone and called Alaric. He was the only one who could keep her at bay.

"Bonnie?"

"I need your help."

"What happened?" he said, his voice unsurprised.

"Jeremy is a vampire…kind of."

"Kind of?" He sounded surprised now.

"The ring is trying to fight it. It's making him sick. I…I think it's killing him. I can't explain right now."

"What do I need to do?" he said, worried.

"I need you to keep Jenna out of the house. I'm doing my best right now with Jeremy—I'm trying every spell I know."

Alaric was silent for a while. "Okay. Bonnie? If anything goes wrong, call me right away."

"Sure thing, Rick. Thanks." She shut the phone. Oh what was she going to do?

***TVD***

"_So,_ what are we going to do until morning?" Damon plopped onto the middle of the single bed and folded his arms. He grinned mischievously and raised one black eyebrow.

Elena turned around from looking out the fourth story window. She scowled at him and he just chuckled darkly. "_Sleep_. _Just_ sleep," she said as she sat down on the bed. She sighed. Everything was falling apart. First Stefan went AWOL. Then Damon got all sweet. Jeremy goes vampy. And her emotions about Stefan _and _Damon were still sketchy. All of a sudden, it _all _came crashing down on her like a ten ton elephant. She felt that burning sensation in the back of her throat that comes when you try to hold back hysterical crying. She sniffed, trying to hold the tears back.

"Hey," Damon scooted next to her, "It'll be okay."

Elena looked up from her hands, "How do you know?"

Damon could see the tears on the verge of spilling over. He couldn't stand to see sweet, loving, fun Elena so…_broken._ He put his arm around her and said with a sardonic half smile, "Haven't you realized? I know everything."

Elena laughed silently and elbowed him in the side.

"But…I _do _know it will be okay."

"But _what _will be okay? There are _so _many different things! My heartbreak over Stefan, this crap going on with Jeremy, my feelings over you, Bonnie going overboard with the—"

"Hold on." Did Elena just say _"my feelings over you?" _ Did she just admit she felt something for Damon? "Did you say that you have feelings for me?"

Elena froze. She had _seriously _screwed up. Her heart started to race as she could feel Damon's smoldering gaze on her. She refused to meet his eyes. She _refused._ She locked her lips and sat there.

"Well? Do you?" Damon said nonchalantly. He refused to say that his heart was pounding in his chest. He wasn't sure how he would react to either answer. If she said no, he wasn't sure if it would push him over the edge _again. _After so much heartbreak, he didn't know if he could continue. But, if she said yes, he didn't know if he would jump for joy or what. Well, he wouldn't _jump for joy._ He didn't jump out of excitement for anything.

Elena sighed and mumbled, "Yes," so quietly Damon had hardly heard it, which was an accomplishment.

Damon swore his heart swelled to a level where he could hardly breathe, but he kept it cool. He used his index finger to pull Elena's chin up to where he could see her clearly in the face. When she wouldn't meet his gaze, he said, "Look at me." Reluctantly, her chocolate eyes met his blue ones.

"And how is that a problem?" Damon said, trying to control his voice. Elena moved his hand away and she looked back to her hands.

"Because. I'm…I'm scared."

Damon was taken aback. "Of _what?_" Damon silently prayed she wasn't afraid of him.

"Of…being heartbroken again. After Stefan…I…I can't go through that again. It hurts too much."

He forced her to look back at him. "I know. I understand. You don't know _how much _I understand about what you've gone through. I've lived through it…over and over. But, you should know that…I…would _never _do that to you, Elena. Never." He gazed deep into her eyes, doing that "eye-thing" that Elena always complained about.

He had never said something so true. He couldn't stand to see Elena that hurt. He couldn't _imagine_ being the one who had inflicted that kind of pain in her.

Elena was locked into his gaze and couldn't get out of it. It was like he was staring into her soul, and she was definitely seeing into his. She saw unending pain in the icy abyss of his eyes, but he looked at her with such an intense and…_loving _look that it took her breath away.

Before Damon had thought about it or even stopped himself, he found himself slowly moving closer to Elena's fantastic lips.

Elena stayed frozen, not sure what to do.

Damon hesitantly and slowly moved closer, his heart rate rising tremendously with anticipation. Elena's heart pounded in her chest to the point that it hurt. When their mouths were about an inch apart, Damon took one last look at Elena, and when she didn't pull away, he gently pressed his lips to hers.

It was like being electrocuted.

Adrenaline pounded through both of their bodies, even though that kiss was so sweet, not lustful or intense at all. It was pure…love. It was slow and momentous. He slowly moved his lips against hers and Elena slowly found her lips moving with his.

It was amazing. She absolutely loved it.

But she also hated it.

She pulled away, tears finally spilling over. Damon's eyes opened, and said, worry oozing in his voice, "What is it? What's wrong?"

"I just…," she wiped tears away. "I just…I can't. I'm not…ready."

Damon was silent. He should've known. He _did _know; he just couldn't stop himself. He had just experienced one of the most surreal moments of his life and he was…happy. And totally intoxicated. But her pulling away had been like cold water being splashed into his face. He couldn't believe he had done that, knowing she couldn't handle it.

Elena didn't know what to think when Damon stayed quiet. Was he angry? "I'm…sorry," she whispered.

"Hey," he slipped off the bed and crouched down so he could look her in the eyes. "It's okay."

At least, he hoped it was.

***TVD***

Bonnie was awoken to the sound of Jeremy moaning. She shot to her feet and eyed him, ready for anything that might happen. She watched him with wide eyes. He sat on the bed, hands buried in his hair. "Oh, God. It's happening again."

"What is it? What's happening?" Bonnie asked, scared out of her mind. Jeremy's head shot up and his eyes met Bonnie's.

His bloody eyes.

His mouth was open slightly and convulsing in pain. She watched in horror as fangs came into her line of sight. Then, she saw the veins around and near his eyes raise on his face.

Then everything happened quickly. _Too _quickly.

Jeremy lunged for her. She acted quickly and stared him down, trying to give him an aneurism.

It wasn't working! He kept going for her and was there in a flash. And with one quick moment, his head swooped down and fangs pierced Bonnie's neck. She screamed horrifically, her voice radiating throughout the house.

Without thinking, she pulled the fire from the two candles she had lit into her hand and she brought it down onto Jeremy's head, setting him on fire. He shrieked and fell back onto the ground, trying to put the consuming fire out. Bonnie then darted into the bathroom and locked the door.

She felt her heart break as she heard him scream, even if he was a monster. Bonnie pulled out her phone, and as she was dialing Rick's number, Jeremy's screaming was silenced with a slam.

Slowly and hesitantly, she unlocked the door and let it swing open.

Jeremy was pinned to the floor, a hand on his throat and a stake pressed against his chest. A man with golden brown wavy hair was leaning over him, practically growling. Bonnie's eyes widened in horror as she saw who had pinned him.

It was Stefan.

_**OHMY! I hoped this chapter was good! Please review! It keeps me motivated! :D :D :D**_

_**Review if you loved the Delena scene! 3333**_


	14. Messy

_**Adding a character you may or may not have heard of! If you've read the books, you know her.**__**Oh, and fyi, this will be a shorter chapter. Sorry. I don't have that much time, and I thought you would have a short chapter than no chapter at all.**_

So, why do you think we'll find anything in Isobel's old office? We've already been here before," Elena retorted as Damon searched through books and papers.

Damon didn't look up. "_Because._ When we were here, we were looking for stuff on Katherine…we weren't looking for anything like this." He had a point.

Elena shuffled through various pages, "Any luck?" she asked.

"Nope. Not yet. Can't even find anything on that blasted ring," he said, frowning to himself as he quickly flipped through an old book.

Elena picked up a large book and started pacing, searching it's yellowed pages. As she passed the page about the powers of vervain, she heard a _snick!_ Then, she heard a shocked, protective, and kind of scared yell, "_Elena!_ Watch it!" Elena gasped, and Damon's leather clad body darted in front of her. She heard a groan right before she saw a tip of a long wooden stake come from his back and through his leather jacket.

"Damon!" Elena shrieked, heart pounding with fear.

"Ouch. Damn it." He gripped the stake and ripped it out of his stomach, grimacing. Elena cried a sigh in relief before she saw Damon catch another stake. "Stop! Damn it! Just go piss off!"

"Not likely," a vibrant, rich, exotic type voice rang through the room. Elena peered over Damon's shoulder to see a tall, slender, exotic looking woman with tan skin, blackish brown silky hair, and black eyes with dark, perfectly arched eyebrows. She was very pretty and wore tight skinny jeans, heeled boots, a red shirt, and a leather jacket. Her watchful, wise, hard eyes went from Damon and hardened on Elena. She said to Damon without looking at him, "Why waste your life for the psychotic bitch?"

Damon reeled in shock. _What? _He growled at the woman ferociously. "Fuck off before I rip your throat out."

Her eyebrows rose. "You know the only good thing about Katarina is her looks, right?" Damon blinked.

"I don't risk my life for just anyone, _especially_ not Katherine." Elena's eyes darted back to Damon in astonishment. _I don't risk my life for just anyone._ Well, she sure as hell knew that, but she was surprised to know he would so quickly give his life up for _her._ Her head swam with confusion.

The woman's eyes held Damon's for a while before Damon saw a click of realization. Her eyes widened. "She's the doppelganger," she said in wondering astonishment.

"And can't survive becoming a shish kabob, so I suggest you _back off._" The woman smiled, Damon knew he couldn't faze her. She raised her hands in mock surrender and dropped the gun, loaded with stakes. The woman started casually walking around the room, fingers trailing the books. "Who the hell _are _you, anyway?"

The woman casually flopped onto the leather office chair and propped her feet up on the desk. She gave them a sardonic, mischievous smile. "You can call me Meredith."

***TVD***

Bonnie stared at the gorgeous vampire leaning over the terrified—and incredibly hot—half vampire thing. Jeremy was staring at Bonnie, fangs receding and bloody eyes fading, and cried, "Oh, God, Bonnie! I'm so sorry!"

But Stefan kept his deadly gaze on Jeremy, stake still pressed to his chest. She snapped her open jaw closed and cried frantically, "Stefan! Stop it! It's over! Let him _go!_"

With a few seconds and a wary glance at Bonnie, Stefan flashed up to his feet, eyes still hard. Jeremy stayed on the ground, still shocked and extremely guilty. Bonnie ignored Stefan—she was still incredibly mad at him—and sat next to Jeremy on the floor and put his head on her lap. She felt his forehead with the inside of her wrist. Crap. He had a fever again. She didn't want to have him go through it again, but it was the only way she knew how to keep it down.

Staying on the floor, she lifted her head to see a watchful and worried Stefan. Their gazes met, and Bonnie felt her face harden. She scowled at him. "Why don't make yourself useful and go get him some blood?"

She saw a faint flash of hurt in Stefan's eyes before he briskly jumped out the window.

Bonnie sighed and stroked Jeremy's hair. He was shuddering.

Things were gonna get messy.

***TVD***

"Who are you?" Meredith asked nonchalantly.

Damon scowled. "Damon Salvatore."

Meredith immediately lifted her eyes to him, shock in them. "_The _Damon Salvatore? The dark, hot one I've heard so much about? Wow, isn't this a coincidence."

"How have you heard about him?" Elena asked, knowing Damon wouldn't ask.

Meredith shrugged. "Isobel. She told me how she was changed and who did it. She said you were amazing."

"That's expected," Damon said cockily.

"She also said you were a cocky bastard who only cared about himself." Well, she was wrong about that. He _did _care about someone.

"The girls seem to like it," he retorted with a smile. That Meredith girl was kind of feisty. He liked it. Not to mention her incredible good looks.

"So, what are you doing here?" Elena asked, ignoring their banter.

Meredith casually looked over at her. "I was meeting Isobel, actually. But, as always, she's late." She looked agitated, and Elena thought she saw a flash of hate in her eyes.

Damon stepped forward, intrigued. How well did she know Elena's mother? "So, you know Isobel?"

"Oh, yeah. We go _way _back. High school days, actually. I was good friends with Alaric, too. I was sad to see him so heartbroken when Isobel 'died', thanks to you. And because of that," she smiled sweetly, "You're number…er…number 3 on my hit list. Congratulations." She flashed her white teeth in a bittersweet smile. Damon sneered at her.

"Number 3? That's it? I'm offended. Who would be the jackasses that beat my record?"

"Who do you think? Katarina and Isobel," she said bluntly.

_**Okay! I will update as soon as I can! I promise! If you've read the books, I know I've changed Meredith's personality a lot, but her changes will come into play soon.**_


	15. Still

"I don't get it. If you're friends with Isobel, why are you planning to kill her?" Elena asked. A flash of pain and sadness flashed in Meredith's eyes before it was gone again.

"She killed my fiancé."

"Which gave you a grudge against all vampires, am I right?" Damon asked.

She shrugged. "Basically. I want your kind dead. I will do everything in my power to get rid of you."

That caught Elena's attention, "Wait. What if you could save someone from becoming a vampire? Would you help them?"

She raised one eyebrow in curiosity, "Sure. Why?"

Elena took a deep breath, "My brother has this ring that keeps him from dying. You heard of it?"

"Oh, yeah, I've heard of it." She raised one hand and shook her fingers. Elena saw a large, God-awful ring that was a copy of the one on Jeremy's finger right now. "That's the only reason I'm still alive." Meredith saw the shock and question in Elena's eyes and she said, "Isobel gave it to me before she turned."

"Oh…uh…well, anyway. My brother was killed, and he came back, like he normally does, but he was transitioning. But he…wasn't."

"What are you talking about?"

Damon sighed and stepped forward. "The kid came back to life and was transitioning, but wasn't. It was like he was in between the two states."

"Oh. I've heard of that before. I've been told the ring can bring you back from anything, but if a vampire was trying to turn you and didn't know you had the ring on, it has…side effects, in a way. It's like the power of the ring and the vampire blood are battling against each other."

"What will happen to him? Will he die?" Elena asked timidly.

"Probably."

"Is there any way to save him?" Damon asked.

Meredith stood up and walked towards him. "I don't know. Is there?"

Damon glared at her. "You know something."

"Well, that depends."

"What do you want?" he snarled.

Meredith stood on her tip toes and whispered in his ear, "Help me kill Isobel." Some type of emotion flared up in Elena as she saw Meredith so close to him, whispering in his ear with such a seducing tone.

Elena wasn't sure how she felt about killing her birth mother. But…if it would save Jeremy, she would do anything.

"Deal," they both said at the same time. "Now, how about that cure?" Damon asked.

Meredith looked up and smiled wryly. "I might just be able to help you with that."

***TVD***

Bonnie gently tipped the glass of blood to Jeremy's lips. His eyes still closed, he drank it all, licking his lips afterward.

Stefan stood still as a stone in the corner of the room. "Where is Elena?" he asked, monotone.

Bonnie, not looking up, simply stated, "She's with Damon out looking for a cure." Bonnie could practically feel the murderous vibes coming from Stefan when she mentioned Damon. "Not that it's your business," she stated.

"Jeremy is Elena's little brother. That makes it my business."

Bonnie looked up. "Actually, no, it isn't. You resigned from that position when you slept with the psycho who wants to kill her."

For once, Stefan didn't say anything.

Bonnie looked back down at Jeremy and stroked his hair. He slowly opened his eyes and said, slightly wheezy, "I'm…sorry…,Bonnie."

"Shh…Shhh…it's okay. You couldn't help it. You couldn't help it. Just sleep."

But, he didn't sleep. About a moment later, Jeremy's face contorted into a spasm of pain. He curled up into a ball, arms wrapped around him as if he was holding himself together, and let out a horrible moan of pain. He clenched his jaw, but it didn't last. He opened his mouth and let out a scream that scared the living daylights out of Bonnie. She couldn't _do _anything! All she could do was watch, and it made her want to cry.

"What do I do? What do I do?" she mumbled.

"There's nothing you _can_ do," Stefan stated.

"Is he...going to…die?" she whispered.

"He will if Elena and Damon don't do something and do it fast."

Jeremy rolled over and the floor and screamed again, the sound ringing through the house.

Then, he vomited a fountain of blood.

***TVD***

"Okay, okay. I get it. You trick the cure out of Isobel, Elena stays in the office _and doesn't come out,_ and I leap in, save the day, save the bitch. Gotchya," Damon said.

Meredith nodded. "Okay. So, hide. She's pulling in to the parking lot," she said, looking out the window.

"I don't see why I can't help. You _know _I can," Elena stated, glaring at Damon.

"You _are _helping. You're staying in the office with the _door locked_ and you're going to stay there, while I stake mommy."

"How is that helping?"

"Because you're helping make _my _job easier by keeping me from having to watch your ass every second," Damon said, seriousness in his eyes.

Elena huffed, "Fine," and walked into the office. She locked the door and then sat down on a chair, waiting. That's all she ever does is _wait._ Ugh.

Damon hid in the hall, behind a door. The shadows made him almost disappear because of his black attire. He listened in as the front door open.

"Isobel!" Meredith exclaimed hospitably.

"Meredith? I didn't know you were here," Isobel's voice said.

"We were going to go for lunch," she stated.

"Oh. Yeah. Oops, forgot," she said in an extremely rude tone. Damon had no idea how Meredith could stand to put up with her.

But, then again, she was planning to kill her.

"Hey, I was reading about this ring, and I read something about…side effects. How can the ring of _side effects?_" she asked. Damon had to admit, Meredith had this acting thing down.

It sounded like Isobel was hanging up her coat as she said, "I don't know. It just does."

"What happens?"

The sounds of keys landed on the table. "If a vampire tries to change you with the ring on, you get in this weird in between state. It can kill you if you don't get the cure."

"What's the cure?"

"Why do you want to know, Meredith? When did you get so interested in this?" Her suspicion was vivid in her voice.

"I'm not. I'm just curious."

Isobel sighed, "Uhh, the only known cure is to make the person drink this type of herb. It's very rare, and it's toxic to vampires, like vervain. It kills the vampire in them."

"What's the plant called?"

"I don't know, Meredith," she said in a smart ass tone. "That has only happened, like, _once _in history before, so no one really knows anything."

"Oh." Meredith fumbled with something. "Well, I've got to go. I promised Aaron I would meet him."

That was his cue.

Damon shot from his hiding spot and was about to the thrust the stake through Isobel's back and right through her heart.

But, then, she whipped around at the last second and shoved her own stake into Damon. Pain shot through his body like lightning. He coughed and gagged. He had never felt so much pain before in his life. He tore his gaze from the smirk on Isobel's face and looked down at the stake protruding from his chest. He gasped for air and collapsed to the ground.

Isobel laughed. "Do you people think I'm stupid? Well, you've got another thing coming if you think you can kill _me _that easily." She laughed and was gone.

Elena had heard what had happened. Frantic, she fumbled with the lock on the door and practically ripped the old door off its hinge. See saw Damon—strong, invincible Damon—collapsed on the floor with a stake in his chest.

"_NO!" _She screamed. She ran and fell to her knees next to him. _Did it pierce his heart? Oh, God, please let him be okay! _She thought. "Damon!"

His icy blue eyes found hers. "Elena…" he coughed. Not knowing what to do, she used all her strength and ripped the stake out of his chest.

"Damon! _Please! PLEASE don't leave me! You can't do this! After everything, you can't leave!" _she screamed.

She collapsed her head onto his chest as he struggled to breathe. She felt one of his hands slowly twine through her hair.

And he took another breath.

And was still.

_**PLEASE REVIEW! I NEED TEN REVIEWS TO CONTINUE! SO IF YOU WANNA SEE WHAT HAPPENS YOU GOTTA REVIEW!**_


	16. Not Alone

Elena felt pain. It wasn't the absolute terrifying hurt she felt when she was betrayed by Stefan, this was worse. _Much _worse. It was an emptiness that she had never felt before. She felt hollow, as if her heart and soul had been sucked from her body.

She could live with the hurt, but not the pain of emptiness.

Tears spewed from her brown eyes as she sobbed on Damon's chest. She just couldn't believe it. She couldn't believe it.

Damon was dead.

She knew Meredith was standing there, watching, but she didn't care. She just screamed anyway. "No! You can't just leave me! After all we've done! After all I've _learned! _After all I still have to _say!_ You…you can't!"

Then, after that, all her cries melded together into loud sobs.

After a few minutes, Meredith walked up to her and pulled her to her feet. "Come on, Elena. We have to go."

"No! I can't! I can't leave him!" she screamed, pulling against Meredith's strong grip.

"Elena, he's dead. You have to let him go."

"No! NO!" was all she could say.

Then, to Elena's complete outrage, she saw Meredith pull a lighter from her pocket. Right when her fingers were about to release the lighter that would turn Damon's body into a fiery inferno, something happened.

With a large, loud gasp, Damon opened his eyes.

Meredith jumped back about two feet, "Holy shit!" she exclaimed.

While he coughed his head off, Elena stood there, a large grin on her face, and tears streaming down her face. When she felt like her feet were no longer glued to the floor, she lunged herself at him and threw her arms around his neck. "Damon!" An unbelievable relief and happiness coursed through her body.

But what really surprised her, was Damon returned the embrace with just as much relief and strength as Elena did. He wrapped his arms around her waist, clinging to her. "Elena," he softly exclaimed.

Then, not letting go of each other, Elena pulled back and looked into Damon's gorgeous face. Damon saw a constant stream of tears come from her brown eyes. He felt her hand being placed on his cheek. "I thought I'd lost you." Then she wrapped her arms around him again.

She wasn't alone anymore.

***TVD***

"I need to talk to you," Bonnie said once Jeremy was finally asleep. Stefan, face unreadable, nodded and walked out of the room with her. They closed the door behind them.

"What is it?"

"I need you to go track down Elena and Damon. Whatever they're doing, they're not doing fast enough, and Jeremy is going to die."

"I have no idea where they are, Bonnie. And I'm sure they don't want my help anyway."

"You're not helping _them_. You're helping _Jeremy._"

Stefan sighed, "I don't—" He was interrupted by a loud thud from the bedroom. They exchanged horror filled glances before charging back in the room.

Bonnie's eyes flitted across the room. "_No." _

The window was open.

And Jeremy was nowhere in sight.

***TVD***

"How is it even _possible?_" Elena asked about two hours after Damon's resurrection and their joyous reunion.

Meredith shook her head, "I have no idea. She must have not fully pierced the heart."

"She grazed it," Damon said, sitting next to Elena with a glass of O Negative. "It put me in a state of death, but I wasn't truly dead. I was actually quite conscious." Damon shot a glance to Elena, and she immediately felt her heart race. Then, he had heard everything that had been said. Everything _she _had said.

"What are we going to do?"

"About Isobel or the cure?" Damon asked.

"Either," Elena said.

"Well, I'm going to trap the bitch, force her to tell me the cure, and then send mommy to Hell, where she belongs."

"Don't do anything stupid, Damon. You might actually get killed this time," Meredith said bluntly. Damon sneered at her.

Elena jumped when she felt her phone vibrate in her pocket. She quickly took it out. _Bonnie._

She shot terrified glances at everyone before setting it on speakerphone.

"Bonnie?"

"Elena!" Bonnie exclaimed, voice filled with hysteria.

"Bonnie, what is it? What's wrong?"

Noises came from the other end that sounded like Bonnie trying to spit out words she was too much in hysterics to pronounce.

Another voice came from the other end of the line. A melodic, tenor like voice that Elena knew almost better than she knew herself. "Elena?"

Elena swallowed. _Stefan._ She sent a strangled look towards Damon. He didn't show any emotion in his eyes, he just took the phone from her hands. With a sneer and a slight growl, he said, "Little brother."

"_Damon," _Stefan said, voice hard.

"What is it? We're kind of busy," Damon said.

Stefan sighed. "It's Jeremy."

"Really? I had no idea, Sherlock. What _about _Jeremy?"

A pause. Then, "He's gone."

Crap.

_**I know this is really short! But my writing instincts told me that this was a good stopping place. So, is everyone happy? Damon survived! YAY! You guys honestly thought I would kill off my fictional husband? Really? Haha. Anyway, the story is gonna start picking up the pace. Expect some major figts, blood, and death. And of course...some Delena along the way. **_

_**Be prepared for Caroline (AKA Vampire Barbie) to show up! And maybe even a little Katherine…maybe.**_

_**Review if you want the next chapter! :D**_


	17. No Clue

"What?" Damon asked, shocked.

"He's gone," Stefan said.

Damon's irritation grew. "Yeah, _got _that the first time. What I _meant _to say was how in the _hell_ could you let this happen?"

"I don't really know what I'm dealing with here! I didn't call you to get a lecture! Now put up your grudge against me for _one second_ and let's try to deal with this!" Damon growled.

Elena was stunned speechless. This was a side of Stefan she saw very rarely. Badass Stefan.

Meredith spoke up, "You're right. You guys won't be able to find that kid unless you work together."

"Who are you?" Stefan asked.

"Meredith. An old friend of Alaric and Isobel's," she said with an attitude.

"And how do you know about us?" Stefan asked suspiciously.

Her smartass smile was wiped off her face. "Isobel killed my boyfriend," she said, voice dead.

It was quiet for a minute. Elena was frustrated. Nothing was getting done and her brother could be out on a killing rampage! She swallowed her hurt for Stefan and spoke. "What's the plan, Stefan?" she asked, voice hard.

Stefan was quiet for a moment, "We need you to come back to Mystic Falls."

"We can't go back now! We still have to find the cure!" Damon growled.

"And Jeremy will die if we don't get it," Elena added quietly.

"Well, he and probably many others will die if we don't find him," Stefan said bluntly.

"Bonnie? What do you think?" Elena asked.

On the other line of the phone, Elena heard a few sniffles and Bonnie say, voice shaky, "I think that finding him is the priority. And we won't be able to find him without your help."

"It's not like we have a lot of ground to cover. Can't you get Blondie and Alaric?" Damon asked.

"We already do. We need as many people as possible. There's a big gathering for the 4th of July fireworks tonight. The whole town will be there," Stefan said, dread in his voice.

Elena cussed under her breath.

"We can't just drop the search for the cure," Damon stated.

Elena heard Meredith sigh. She looked over to see a mixture of agitation and indecision on her face. "Meredith?" she asked quietly. Her cat like eyes darted to meet her gaze.

She took a deep breath. Hesitantly, she said, "I'll stay and look for it." She gave a pointed look towards Damon and Elena, "Go. You're needed more over there."

Damon sighed. Voice hard and face hard to go with it, he said, "We'll be there." And he snapped the phone shut.

***TVD***

"So, let me get this straight. Jeremy was killed, then turned into a vampire, and back into a human, and now he's in some weird in between state and is ravaging around town? Is that right?" Caroline asked, confused.

"Yeah," Bonnie replied.

Anger showed in Caroline's expression. "Why the hell didn't anyone tell me?"

"We knew you had that drama going on with you and Tyler, so we didn't want to interfere and add something else. Now, it's mandatory that we get everyone possible to help with this," Stefan said.

Caroline gave an exasperated sigh, "There is _nothing_ going on with me and Tyler!"

Bonnie just gave her a pointed look and kept quiet.

Alaric, impatient, shifted his position on the couch. "So, what's the plan, Stefan?"

"The fireworks start around 9, but people will be getting there around 8, so we need you and Caroline searching the inner crowd. Bonnie and I will get the rest. Damon and Elena are on their way back, so they will be able to search the outside."

"When will Damon and Elena be here?" Caroline asked.

Stefan swallowed his feelings about Elena and said, "They should be here around 7, so in about 3 hours."

"And, please, try not to kill him," Bonnie pleaded. "He isn't in control."

Everyone nodded.

And with that, they got ready.

For what? Bonnie had no clue.

***TVD***

"Can we stop for, like, 2 minutes? I _seriously _need to get a granola bar or something. I haven't eaten all day," Elena said, forehead pressed against the car window. She was so worried about Jeremy she had actually started to get nauseous. Well, not just Jeremy. It was everything: Stefan, Jeremy, Bonnie, _Damon._

"Sure," Damon said as he pulled into an oncoming gas station. "The car is almost on empty, anyway." Damon was in a quiet mood, surprisingly. Almost dying sort of took its toll on him. He felt like laying on the ground and sleeping for about 100 years. Not to mention his chest still kind of hurt, and he had _major _heart burn from that stake.

Once they came to a stop, Elena got out of the car and went into the store.

After Damon had filled the tank, he walked into pay. He looked around; Elena was nowhere to be found. Right after panicking a little, he came to the conclusion that she must be in the restroom. He walked up into the line and waited.

But then, he felt some tugging on the left leg of his jeans.

Damon looked down to see large turquoise eyes with little tears looking up at him pitifully. The little girl had on a little blue dress and her blonde hair was in pigtails. "Sir?" the little girl whimpered.

"Yeah?" he said.

She sniffled, "Have you seen my Momma?"

Oddly, Damon felt…_sorry_…for the little girl.

Elena walked out of the bathroom to see something she never thought she'd see in her entire life.

A little girl with blonde hair and a frilly dress stood about to Damon's hip. She asked pitifully if he had seen her Momma. Then, _get this,_ he kneeled down on one knee to look her in the eyes.

"No, I'm sorry. I haven't, sweetie," Damon said, voice unbelievably sweet and beautiful.

The little girl sniffed and started to cry a little. Damon, eyes sympathetic, put his hand on her tiny shoulder. "Hey, it's okay. I'll help you find her. What's your name?"

After another sniff, she said, "Enola."

Damon smiled brightly, "That's a very pretty name."

She smiled a little, "Tanks. What's yours?" she said, unable to pronounce all her words.

"I'm Damon." He smiled. "Now, what does your Momma look like?"

Enola started to describe her when a woman walked up, "Enola! Where were you?" She grabbed her hand. Damon looked up at, obviously, Enola's mother. He stayed on one knee with her.

"I was looking for you. He was helping me," she said, motioning to Damon.

Her mother looked down at Damon, and after the initial shock of seeing how gorgeous he was, said gratefully, "Well, thank you. Enola? We have to go."

"Okay, Momma." Damon started to rise when the little girl flung her arms around him. "Tanks, Damie!" His eyes widened at the girls outburst and the pronunciation of his name, but he soon relaxed and wrapped his arms around her small body.

Then…he softly kissed her hair and said, "Your welcome, sweetie." Then, with a smile, he released her and stood as mother and daughter walked away.

Flabbergasted, Elena walked up to Damon. They didn't say anything until the gas and granola bar was paid for and they were walking towards the car. "I didn't know you were good with children," she said, still slightly shocked.

Damon opened the car door and, with a deep, sexy tone to it, he said before sliding into the car, "Elena, there is _a lot _you don't know about me."

_**Please review! :D I wanted to add something really sweet before the BIG search for Jeremy comes in! I've never seen any sort of toddler in the show, ESPECIALLY interact with Damon, and I honestly think he would be good with kids and surprise all of us. Damon's perfect already. Why can't he be MORE perfect for loving kids?**_

_**REVIEW FOR AN UPDATE!**_


	18. Desperation

_**This chapter is probably my favorite…well, the next few chapters. They're exciting! I hope you like them!**_

_**I also would like to thank delenadreamer for the absolutely amazing review! It, literally, made my day! That means so much to me. (I tried replying to you, but it said you had disabled private messaging) I hope the rest of this story lives up to your expectations and more. Thanks. **_

**This is going to be a long chapter. Everything is starting to speed up. I'm getting excited just thinking about it! **

"No need to worry anymore, I'm here now," Damon said cockily as he nonchalantly walked through the front door of the boarding house. Elena walked behind him, scowling.

"I'm here, too," she said accusingly.

So quickly she hardly noticed, he turned towards her and whispered in her ear as she walked by, "_Yes,_ you are," Elena's eyes widened as a shiver trailed down her spine, but she quickly hid her expression. Caroline and Bonnie sat together on the couch, Bonnie sniffling a little, while Alaric sat in the recliner.

And, lo and behold, Stefan stood against the wall, hands crossed over his chest, expression unreadable.

It was the first time Elena had seen him since their little incident in her bedroom when she had chucked a book at his head and claimed she never wanted to see him again.

Honestly? She still didn't. She was still hurt and offended by the things he had said. She wasn't going to forgive him easily. If ever.

She didn't hate him, but…she wasn't really sure how she felt about him anymore. Everything was so…jumbled. Just like how she felt for Damon.

"You're here!" Caroline exclaimed as she jumped up and gave Elena a hug. "Oh, my God, I haven't seen you in forever."

That wasn't necessarily true. It had been last week, but Elena knew what she meant. Her hand in Caroline's unbreakable grip, Elena was pulled onto the couch next to her and Bonnie. Elena gave Bonnie a sympathetic smile, and Bonnie returned it, a tired look in her eyes.

Damon walked over to the recliner with Alaric in it. He glared at Alaric until the history teacher looked up at him, sighed, rolled his eyes, and got up. Damon gave him a cocky grin as he eased himself into the recliner. He situated himself and noticed everyone was staring at him. "What?" he asked with a grin.

"Are you done?" Caroline asked.

Damon seemed to think really hard about it. With a breathtaking smile, he said—sarcasm overflowing his voice, "Yep." He popped the P.

Elena shot a wary glance at Stefan. He still stood against the walls, arms crossed. He wore a tan colored V-neck T-shirt and jeans with boots. He looked incredibly tense, the muscles in his arms stiff. He looked at Damon, hardness in his eyes.

After a second, Stefan looked away and said, "So, did you find the cure?"

"No, but Meredith is working on it," Elena stated, not looking at Stefan.

Caroline gave her a confused look. "Meredith?"

"A friend of Isobel, turned enemy, turned vampire slayer; it's a whole ordeal," Damon stated. "On to the topic at _hand…_what's the plan to find the kid?"

"His name is _Jeremy_," Bonnie spat with unneeded venom in her voice. Elena was surprised by her outburst, but she knew Bonnie was going through a tough time.

Damon's face was blank. "And your point is…?" When Bonnie didn't answer, he continued. "Anyways, on with the plan?"

Stefan quickly told Damon and Elena the plan: where they were going to be, what they were going to do. As soon as he finished, Elena looked at the clock. 7:30. It was time to head out.

Everyone quickly stocked up on vervain darts. They brought no stakes. No matter what happened, no one was going to be killed by a stake. Not tonight.

They all went in separate cars: Caroline and Alaric, Bonnie and Stefan, and Damon and Elena.

On the way there, Damon could feel the distress emanating from Elena. She stared out the window, her breath fogging up the glass. "Hey," he said softly. She slowly turned her head to look at him. "It'll be okay. We'll find him."

Elena looked down for awhile before meeting his gaze again. "I hope so," she said quietly.

After about 5 minutes, the small—but rapidly growing—crowd came into view. It was starting to get dark, so Damon parked in a dark alleyway. The two quickly scrambled out. Damon walked up to Elena and put his hands on her shoulders, face deadly serious. "You know what to do? You've got the darts?" Elena nodded the entire time, too quiet to talk. "If we get separated, call me _immediately_, okay? We've got to stay together, or this won't work." Elena nodded.

Damon felt the immediate urge to bend down and press his lips to hers, or at least the skin of her forehead, but he restrained. Now wasn't the time to be doing that sort of thing. What they did now was a matter of life and death.

After texting Witchy and Blondie that they had arrived in town, he grabbed Elena's hand and pulled her to the outside rim of the crowd. About half the town was already there, and there was a constant stream of people walking to get their seat to watch the fireworks.

"Just act natural, like we're in deep conversation. We don't want anyone thinking we look guilty of something," Damon told Elena as they started making a lap around the ever growing crowd.

And, just at that moment, they ran into Jenna.

***TVD***

It was dark now, and Caroline and Alaric still saw no signs of Jeremy.

"Do you hear anything?" Alaric asked, looking around.

Caroline shook her head. "No. Nothing that could be Jeremy." They both sighed. It was 8:30, and nothing was out of the ordinary yet. But, honestly? Caroline didn't know what to expect. Screaming? Blood? Jeremy killing everyone? She didn't have a clue.

At that moment, Caroline picked up a faint high pitched sound in her ear. She focused on the sound, and it soon drowned out the conversations of the surrounding families. Eventually, she heard a sort of strangled moaning sound. She was on alert immediately. "Alaric! Come with me!" His head whipped around, on guard, and followed her as best he could.

Caroline pushed passed the crowd, trying not to hurt someone by underestimating her strength. Eventually, she came to a small clearing of people. There was a large tree that was almost invisible with the night, at least, to Alaric, it was. Caroline immediately knew that she had found him.

She snuck up behind the tree to see a small framed girl—16 or so—with silky black hair and black eyes. She had a look of sheer terror on her face. But that wasn't what horrified Caroline.

Jeremy stood, dark hair a mess, with his arms around the girl, and his mouth on her bleeding neck, draining the life out of her.

A chill went down her spine. Seeing sweet Jeremy like this—a demon—was almost too much. When the small girl's eyes were drowsily closing, Caroline came in between them with a flash. She quickly compelled the girl, "Go straight home. Tell no one about this." The girl clumsily complied, stumbling in another direction.

Alaric joined her at that point, breathing heavily. She whipped around to see Jeremy, blood all over his face. He stood still as a statue, head bent to the side slightly. He stared at them with a terrifying, demonic look, and with a small smile, he was gone so fast Caroline couldn't follow him.

"This is worse than we thought," Alaric said grimly.

Still on Auto pilot, Caroline pulled her phone out and called Damon—Jeremy was heading towards their direction.

***TVD***

"Elena! I didn't know you were coming!" Jenna exclaimed. She looked warily at Damon before returning her gaze to Elena's.

Elena's heart started racing. _Oh dear God. Not now!_ she mentally screamed. "I didn't either," she said, trying to act calm.

Jenna looked around. "Where's Jeremy?"

Elena acted nonchalant. "Oh, he's around. We were just looking for him, actually. Weren't we, Damon?"

Damon gave her a You-Suck-at-Acting look. He sent his famous seductive smile towards Jenna, trying to distract her. "Yeah. We're thinking he's with Bonnie. Are you here with anyone, Jenna?" Even though Damon held no attraction for Jenna, it was still funny to him to hear her heart race when he acted like that towards her. But, he knew Jenna only saw him as "incredibly hot" and that was it, which was good. But…then again…Damon found it amusing for any woman to be into him—which was the majority. Only Elena was he dead serious about.

Jenna's face fell and said, "No. I—"

Damon jumped slightly when he felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. He held up a finger to Jenna and looked at the screen. It read: _Blondie_. Caroline. He looked up sweetly to Jenna and said, "I'm sorry, Jenna, but I have to take this." He turned and walked away, hearing Elena say goodbye to her aunt and following him. He accepted the call and held it to his ear. "What?"

"Jeremy's on his way towards you. It's worse than we thought."

"What do you mean 'Worse than we—'" She hung up on him. He held in his urge to be pissed and turned to Elena.

"What is it? What's going on?" Her brown eyes were full of worry.

"It's Jeremy. He's coming towards us."

***TVD***

Bonnie and Stefan walked around, constantly searching for her boyfriend and best friend's little brother. They had not spoken to each other since they arrived in town. It was still too awkward. Stefan was still ashamed of his actions with Katherine and Bonnie was still too angry at him. They were all business, but it was better that way.

"No signs of him," Stefan stated, his voice monotone. Bonnie was just about to reply when her phone rang. Immediately on edge, she ripped it from her pocket and accepted it.

"Hello?"

"Bonnie!" It was Caroline. "I just found Jeremy, he got away, and is heading towards Damon and Elena's direction. Be careful and ready. We have underestimated how bad this is." Caroline sounded panicky.

"Huh? What do you—Caroline?" She wasn't there.

Bonnie just about jumped out of her skin when Stefan clamped his hand on her shoulder with a painful grip. "What is it?"

She turned to see Stefan's face full of dread and terror. He glanced at Bonnie, horror in his eyes. In a deep, dead voice, he said, "I hear screaming." And, with that, he locked his hand into Bonnie's and ran off into the direction of the high pitched, all-too-familiar screaming that made Stefan's heart drop to the pits of Hell.

***TVD***

"Damon! What's happening? _What's happening?_" Elena shrieked, terrified as Damon dragged her across the street towards an alley. He ignored her. He could hear the sounds of pained moaning and the sound of someone…_drinking_ in the alleyway. He knew it was Jeremy. When Elena was still asking him what was going on, voice raising in pitch each time, he shushed her and continued, dragging her behind him.

Elena didn't know what Damon was doing, but when they came up to the dark alley, what she saw almost made her pass out in horror.

Jeremy—her sweet little brother—stood, eyes bloody and fangs out, drinking the life out of a girl Elena recognized from school. She had blonde hair and blue eyes. But now, the girl's eyes were closed. She had already passed out from blood loss—or dead.

He heard them come up, and he immediately dropped the limp body to the ground. The girl landed on the pavement with a dull thud. He pulled the corners of his lips into a demonic smile, blood dripping down his chin.

Damon had Jeremy trapped in the alley, blocking the way out. Now was the time to attack. If he didn't do it now, it would never happen. At a mind blowing supernatural speed, Damon pulled out all of the vervain darts in his possession and hurled them at the boy with perfect accuracy.

But before any of the syringes could touch Jeremy's skin, he laughed and swiftly dodged them all. Then, in the blink of an eye, he grabbed two of them that still were sailing in the air.

So fast even Damon couldn't follow it, Jeremy ran around him and plunged both syringes into Damon's back. Even though Damon was incredibly strong and was practically immune to one of those darts, two of them were enough to weaken him tremendously. He felt a burning sensation in his back where the vervain had admitted his system.

Right before he fell to his knees, he heard an evil voice in his ear, "Have fun dying." His voice slithered around Damon, making his spine shiver. This was unlike anything he had ever witnessed. It was like he had come straight from the fiery depths of Hell.

Elena watched in horror as her little brother, looming over the collapsed Damon, pulled a stake from his jacket.

Right when he was about to plunge it into his back and right through Damon's heart, Elena let out a blood curdling scream. _"NO!" _She had already lost Damon once, she wasn't going to lose him again.

As fast as humanly possible, she pulled out a vervain dart from her coat and stabbed Jeremy in the neck with it. He let out a pained moan before pulling it out. He growled menacingly at her, eyes the definition of evil and shoved her into the brick wall of the alley. The vervain did nothing to him.

Elena flew back, wind whistling through her hair, as she slammed into the hard wall. She let out a pitiful cry before hitting the pavement, head bleeding. Horrible pain shot up her right arm and leg as she writhed on the ground, screaming.

Damon felt a piece of him die when he saw Elena's slim body fly through the air like a rag doll. _"Elena!"_ he yelled. He dragged himself across the pavement towards her. Her right arm and leg were bent in an unnatural position. She screamed in pain, and Damon felt like he might die just hearing it. When he reached her frail body, he quickly bit his wrist and held it to her mouth. She had to drink it. _She had to._

Elena pulled away from his bleeding wrist. She muttered weekly, "_No_, Damon. I can't! You're too weak already."

"You have to drink, Elena. _Please._" He was pleading now, something he _never did._ If she didn't get his blood in her system _now_, it wouldn't do her any good anyway. The vervain was spreading through his system, and soon it would dilute the healing properties of his blood.

"No. I won't let you sacrifice your chances for the sake of mine." Her head was bleeding, and she was getting drowsier by the second. Her eyesight started to get fuzzy, the only thing she could clearly see were his eyes. They were like spotlights in the darkness. Like lighthouses in the night.

"_Elena,"_ he begged. She—with the last of her energy—was shocked to see one tear trail down his cheek. _"Please."_

And realizing that he would feel the same way if she died as she would feel, she drank. Blood always tasted horrible to her—like rust and salt. But Damon's was…other worldly. It was sweet, and it made her head swim. But…at the same time, she could feel herself heal slowly and become more alert. She felt the wound in her head close and her arm and leg correct itself.

Just at that moment, Damon and Elena heard two very familiar voices. And both of them exclaimed, "Elena!" None of them mentioned Damon or took notice of him.

Stefan and Bonnie ran up to her.

"What is it, Elena? What happened!" Stefan asked, terror in his eyes. Bonnie watched, horrified. Elena glanced to see Damon almost passing out from the vervain.

Elena, still weak, managed to choke out, "It's not _me_. Help Damon for God's sake!" She feebly pointed towards him, her hand shaking.

Bonnie rushed towards him, realizing that without Damon, they would never get Jeremy. And…even though she didn't like him, Bonnie knew he didn't deserve this. She pulled out the darts. "I think maybe I can pull the vervain out."

"_Please,"_ Elena muttered quietly. She sounded desperate. This sparked something in Bonnie's mind. Was there…something going on that she didn't know about? _No,_ she immediately resolved. Elena still hurt too much from Stefan. Damon had just become one of Elena's best friends. He had helped her.

Bonnie muttered a spell as she held her hands an inch above the quickly closing wounds. Then, a clear liquid seeped from them. Vervain. When it was gone, she wiped it off with her hand.

Elena could immediately see a difference in Damon. He pushed himself up to a standing position after a moment. He muttered a genuine, "Thanks," towards Bonnie.

Elena tried to get up, but she ended up on the ground again, her arm and leg still hurting. _Duh_. She knew that. Vampire blood didn't work instantly. It was a gradual healing process.

Automatically, Damon found himself moving towards Elena. Stefan looked like he was about to intercept, but he sent his little brother such a demeaning and hell bent look that he backed off. Damon wasn't in the mood right now to quarrel with his brother. Damon slowly bent down and slid his arms underneath Elena's slender body. His skin on hers returned the electric current between them. It was like an all time high, but Damon ignored it. Now was not the time to be drunk from her presence.

He picked her up bridal style, uttering a small, "Woopsy daisy."

That sent Elena back to when Damon had saved her from the car accident…the day after she had gotten with Stefan…and the day after she had found out that she looked just like Katherine.

"We have to get to Caroline and Alaric. Jeremy ran back into the crowd. We better hurry; we have 10 minutes until the fireworks start," Stefan stated.

***TVD***

Caroline and Alaric were waiting anxiously by the stage for some sort of sign or phone call or _something_.

"I'm glad to welcome you to our annual 4th of July fireworks show!" the mayor—Tyler's mother—began speaking on stage.

_Geez, freaking smoke signals would be better than just standing here wondering!_ Caroline thought.

10 minutes later, Stefan shoved his way through the crowd, followed by Bonnie and Damon carrying Elena. _Oh dear God, what happened?_ "What—"

Stefan cut her off. "Jeremy's here. Have you seen him?" he asked as Mayor Lockwood said, "Now, let the fireworks be—"

She never got to finish.

Because at that moment, Jeremy lunged onto stage, in front of everyone, with his fangs out.

And bit ferociously into the Mayor's neck just as hundreds of fireworks exploded into the sky.

_**Well? Did you like it? I'm really proud of myself for making a chapter this long. 3,000 plus words. :O Woah. Lol. The story is starting to really pick up, and some things will happen that will BLOW YOUR MIND! :D**_

_**As you already know, I already have added Meredith into the story where she has already been in the books. In the next chapter, I will be adding another aspect of the book into the story, but it's not a character. But, for anyone who hasn't read the books, I will explain so no one is lost. Promise.**_

_**Rate and Review! It makes me update faster!**_


	19. Impossible Made Possible

_**Get ready for some really awesome stuff…and, in my opinion, a very good Delena moment….**_

The mayor of Mystic Falls let out a blood curdling shriek of terror and pain as two deathly sharp fangs pierced the skin of her neck.

From what seemed like hours, was only a second so fast it wasn't even real. Elena watched in horror as her little brother attacked Mrs. Lockwood, plunged his fangs into the arteries of her neck, and released her, mouth bloody and horrible.

Mrs. Lockwood dropped to the ground like a broken ragdoll.

There was a nano-second in between her hitting the floor of the stage and the whole town going ballistic.

Like the first gunshot in a battle at war, a woman screamed, her voice ringing through the shocked crowd, when everyone started running and screaming.

The noise was deafening. The screaming along with the fireworks sounded like a million ambulances had their sirens blaring all together. The sound pounded in Elena's ears as dread sunk to the pit of her stomach, making her nauseous.

Damon still held her in his arms because her right leg and arm hadn't completely healed yet. She shot a horrified, desperate look at Damon. He looked completely shocked, and…really tired. She knew that the vervain—even though it was gone—still had taken its toll on him.

Damon felt his heart break when he saw the look of absolute desperation and hopelessness in Elena's beautiful face. And it only made it worse when he came to the realization that he had _no idea _what to do.

Jeremy looked at the scrambling crowd and smiled. And with a horrible laugh, he disappeared off the stage, leaving Mrs. Lockwood on the stage.

"What do we freaking do?" Caroline shrieked over the noise. She sent horrified looks that mirrored everyone else's expressions.

Alaric was more sad then shocked. "There's nothing we _can_ do! It's not like you can compel everyone at the same time! Vampires have been _exposed!_"

The solution fell on Damon like a freight train. He met Stefan's alarmed and knowing gaze. He was thinking the same thing.

Too bad the "solution" was more like a "suicide mission."

He grasped Elena tighter in his hold subconsciously. "All of you circle the perimeters and _don't let anyone get away,"_ he growled, more serious than he had ever been in his life.

Bonnie, Caroline, and Alaric gave him wary glances before nodding and darting away, but Stefan stayed behind, an outraged look on his face.

"Are you absolutely _insane?_ Damon, you _know _that's impossible! _Especially _since you can hardly stand on your own two feet from the vervain!" Elena was terrified at Stefan's expression. She had no idea what he was talking about, but she knew it was bad, and she knew it would have to do with Damon.

She felt a little awkward with Stefan so close to Damon, his chest pressing against her, and Damon's chest pressing against the other side of her. It was beyond intimidating with both of the Salvatore brothers throwing daggers at each other right about her head.

"Stefan, you know that I'm more capable of doing it than you are! And we don't really have a choice here!" Damon snarled. "If I don't, then vampires will be exposed!"

"Then go ahead! No one knows what we are! We'll just keep on going as we always have!"

Damon couldn't believe how blind Stefan was being. "Oh, really? Well, what about _Jeremy? _ _Everyone _knows that was him who attacked the mayor! He will never have a life beyond this! Even if we do find the cure, everyone will be hell bent on killing him! And being human again will only make it easier! Do you want that for Jeremy? A life of death or _hiding?"_

"What in _hell _are you talking about?" Elena screamed. Both of the unbearably handsome Salvatore brothers looked down at Elena, as if they had totally forgotten her presence.

Damon looked heartbroken as he looked at her before looking at Stefan. "Just go help the others and let whatever happens happen." Stefan gave each of them a pained look before running to help the others.

"What was that about, Damon?" Elena demanded. She was getting frantic now, unable to fathom what they were talking about.

"Do you think you can stand now?" he simply asked her.

She looked at him, confused, before saying, "Uh, maybe."

He then gently set her on the ground. Her leg and arm were sore, but that was the extent now. She made sure no shooting pain was going to shoot up her leg, but then realized that Damon hadn't let go of her hands.

He grasped them tightly, anxious to feel her warmth. She looked up at him to see him staring into her soul, his unbelievably beautiful blue eyes blazing with passion. Her breath caught in her throat.

Damon knew doing this would probably kill him, but to assure Elena and her little brother a good life, it would all be worth it. He didn't even know if he could pull this off.

And that's why he was pulling all the stops now.

Elena was frozen to the ground, unable to move from his gaze. The screaming and the burst of fireworks drowned out into the far distance. All that existed was Damon and Elena. Damon was all she saw. Damon was all she wanted to see. His eyes gazing into hers.

She watched his beautiful face eventually slowly contort into a mask of concentration, but his eyes still held Elena in her place. They were so captivating; she was lost in the icy blue ocean of his eyes.

Damon had heard old stories where rare, extremely powerful vampires could succeed in what he was trying to do without dying. Originals were the only ones who could do it regularly, but it still sucked the life out of them.

As he concentrated on Elena's eyes and the love he held for her, he began to feel a slight tugging in the pit of his stomach.

Elena watched with hypnotized, yet scared eyes as Damon's concentration turned to pain. Even though it was incredibly difficult, Damon held her gaze as the tugging in his stomach turned to dull, but powerful, pain.

As the feeling increased, Damon forced his mind to think of his memories of Elena. The first thing that popped into his mind was the moment he first officially met her. When he had opened the door to see the carbon copy of Katherine Pierce, Katerina Petrova, standing on his front door step. He had flirted mercilessly, but she never wavered and flirted back because of Stefan. That was the first difference Damon noticed between Elena and Katherine. Elena was loyal and trustworthy. That was also the first thing he liked about her.

Elena's fear turned to horror as she saw an eerie, thick looking fog come from the woods and move slowly towards the crowd.

Pain shot through Damon's body as he began to feel it work. Determined, he pushed another memory of Elena into the forefront of his mind. He was sucked back to where he had returned from trying to save Stefan from the tomb vampires. Elena stood in the rain, worry plain on her face, when he ran back up to her and he had broken the news that he couldn't get in. The rain dripped down her face continuously, mixing with her tears. That was the first time he realized that he wished she would be that worried for _Damon_ if something like that had happened to him.

The fog then reached the edge of the crowd. As the fog enveloped one person, she saw him slow down from his frantic running and screaming until he came to a complete stop. He looked around, confused, then slowly walked away and down the street.

At this point, Damon felt as if he was continuously being stabbed in the back with a stake. It was like lightning bolts, over and over again, taking his breath away. But, still, he stared into Elena's eyes and thought of his love for her. He thought back to the night when he told her he loved her. He was heartbroken when he made her forget. But she didn't need to know. It would have just been something else to add for her to think about. And…he didn't deserve her, so he had no choice. It was the best option. But…it was true. He loved her. Beyond anything in the world…and nothing had changed since that point. It had only gotten stronger.

Elena, helpless, witnessed Damon beginning to shake. The fog grew to the point where she could hardly see anything. The fog covered everything for miles.

She couldn't even see Damon standing in front of her anymore.

But, she could still see one thing.

Like a lighthouse in a dark night at sea, Damon's eyes shone through the darkness. They were like spotlights being cast down on Elena.

_I love her. I'm doing this for her. For her life._

And, with that one thought, Damon mentally let go of it, and with the sudden lack of excruciating pain, everything dimmed as he collapsed to the ground. He whispered the one thing that mattered to him in the world before everything became silent as he entered darkness.

Elena was surrounded in fog one minute, and when she heard Damon exhale a large breath, the fog dissipated immediately, shrinking to nothing in the air. She saw the silent—yes, silent—crowd slowly walk down the street in various directions, faraway looks on their faces. Then, with a soft, slow whisper, "_Elena," _Damon fell to the ground.

***TVD***

Caroline thought that the crazy fireworks and the screaming people was chaos, but she had no idea how bad it would get.

She was running back and forth, constantly trying to keep everyone in town and from screaming like a spider monkey down town. Every time someone almost got away from her grasp and was sprinting to their cars in fear, she would run up to them—scaring them even more—and compel them to _stay in town_.

But when this eerie, creepy, horror-movie worthy looking fog started oozing from the woods, everything began to fall apart.

Stefan and Alaric were still searching for Jeremy…to no avail. Caroline had come to the conclusion that Jeremy would not be found. _He _would find _them._ Bonnie was trying to put wards around the square to keep the petrified people _in, _but it was extremely taxing on her. She had already experienced a nosebleed.

As Caroline made another lap around the mob of people, the fog was everywhere. It was thick and almost felt sticky to her sensitive touch. It made her feel slightly…claustrophobic, almost.

But what was creepier, is that she was alone. There was no sound. No more screaming. Nothing.

She wandered for a few minutes, getting more panicky as time went on. What scared her was that she couldn't see _through _it. It was like she was lost in a cloud.

She whipped around when she heard a twig snap.

Her heart racing, she called out, "Who's there?"

Then, a hand slapped onto her shoulder.

Her scream pierced the night air like a stake to the heart.

"CAROLINE! Shut up!" a familiar voice whispered harshly into her ear. _Bonnie._

"Bonnie? Where is everyone? What's going on?" Caroline turned to see Bonnie, but she couldn't. The fog was too thick.

"I don't know. But whatever it is, it's making the people leave."

"You think it's a witch?"

"No. Something like this would take too much power. It's almost like mind control." She sounded completely stumped.

Something clicked in Caroline's mind. "Or…like compulsion."

And at that moment, the fog disappeared from view in the blink of an eye. Bonnie and Caroline looked at each other with confused and worried looks.

"I think you're—" Bonnie started to say, but she didn't get to finish because a dark blur rammed into Caroline, sending her ten feet in the air and crashing into a thick nearby tree.

Caroline let out a yelp when her head slammed into the hard bark. She tried to shake it off as quickly as possible…it hadn't hurt that bad, but it had rattled her. When her vision cleared, Jeremy was right in her face, long fangs exposed and eyes wild. He held her to the tree, and no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't break his hold.

With a snarl—and to Caroline's utter horror—he reared his head back, his teeth glinting in the moonlight, and was bringing his fangs towards her neck at an excruciating speed.

"_Jeremy!"_

He froze right before his sharp fangs reached her skin. He whirled around to see little Bonnie, standing tall and unafraid. He growled at her menacingly.

With a small quick flick of her wrist, Jeremy's arm snapped with a deafening crack.

For a split second, his fangs receded in shock, but were back full force right after. He gritted his teeth and groaned in pain before his arm snapped back, once again straight, already healed.

"Is that it?" he said darkly.

With a hard, determined look from Bonnie, Jeremy fell to his knees, hands clutching his head as he received aneurism after aneurism. He moaned as pain shot through his skull over and over. Slowly, it dissipated. His breathe came in large gasps as he said, "So, what? You're gonna kill me? You're gonna kill your boyfriend?" He growled darkly.

"The Jeremy I love would want me to," she said as trails of blood came from her nose.

At that moment, Caroline came from behind and plunged six vervain darts—three in each hand—into the back of his neck.

Jeremy screamed as he whipped around, hitting Caroline, making her sail through the air about five feet.

Ignoring the pulsating pain in her jaw, she got back up and tackled him to the ground. She could tell that much vervain was taking its toll.

Bonnie breathed in deeply and closed her eyes. When she opened them, Jeremy was still.

They had done it. They had captured him! The two girls' gazes met and they both smiled. They had achieved the unthinkable. But…the smile didn't reach their eyes. They both knew that Jeremy would face a horrible fate if they didn't get their hands on the cure…whatever the cure was.

The sound of crying was the only thing that broke them from their thoughts. Caroline whipped her head around to see Elena crying, hunched over an unconscious—or…_dead—_Damon with Stefan and Alaric behind them.

The night was far from over.

***TVD***

Stefan and Alaric followed the sound of crying after the fog dissipated. Even though Stefan knew what must have happened—he could only hope that it wasn't the case.

They came upon Elena, sobbing and hunched over Damon—limp and eyes shut.

"Elena…," Stefan said quietly, but Elena acted as if she never heard him.

Her hands fluttered over his body as if she didn't know what to do as she stuttered, "No. No. Damon? Damon? Wake up!"

Alaric, who stood behind him, said, "Oh, shit," as he surveyed the scene.

Bonnie and Caroline—with an unconscious Jeremy slung over her shoulder—appeared. "What happened?" Caroline asked, voice and eyes frantic.

"You got him," Stefan said quietly, overly relieved and astonished. Caroline nodded and looked back and forth between Damon and Elena. Stefan gave her a look that told her _Not now._ He shot a glance at Bonnie, and she looked worried, but also as if she were concentrating. _She must be keeping Jeremy down,_ he thought.

Stefan looked sadly at his former lover and the still body of his older brother. He walked up to Damon and put two fingers on his neck. Vampires have a low pulse rate anyway, and Stefan couldn't feel a pulse at all on Damon, but as he concentrated, he could feel the slightest, faint little _thump _on his sensitive fingers. He was alive…barely.

Stefan was absolutely astonished. Damon had done it. He had compelled everyone, which had never been heard of before except for Originals.

Only the quiet whimpering of Elena could snap him out of it. He moved forward to put his arms around her, but stopped. That wasn't a good idea.

"Alaric? Get Elena. I'll get Damon." Alaric nodded and made his way to her.

He hooked his arm around hers and started to pull her up, but she started shaking her head continuously and said, voice gradually getting louder, "No! No! Damon! _Please!"_

She clasped his hand tightly and Alaric said gently, "You have to get up, Elena."

"No! I can't leave him!" she said, tears flying.

"It's okay. I've got him," Stefan said. Their eyes locked…and slowly, Elena nodded, wiping her eyes. Alaric helped her to her feet and kept his arm underneath her to help her walk. She was still limping.

Stefan knelt by his brother. He never knew he would be so sad to see his brother like this. He carefully picked him up. "Come on. We need to get back to the boarding house." They all nodded except for Bonnie.

"I'm going to stay behind and heal Mayor Lockwood…and anyone else who might be hurt. Go ahead, and I'll be back in two hours at most." Stefan smiled tiredly and nodded as they all walked off, leaving Bonnie behind as she walked off towards Mayor Lockwood.

Stefan, Alaric, Caroline, and Elena with Damon and Jeremy in tow, got into Alaric's car. Stefan drove, while Alaric and Caroline were in the very back with Jeremy, and Elena sat in the middle row with Damon lying with her, his head in her lap. Stefan tried to ignore the fact that Elena was silently crying as she watched Damon's face.

***TVD***

A few minutes passed that seemed like hours, and they finally reached the boarding house. Stefan carried Damon, Caroline carried Jeremy, and Alaric helped Elena as they all slowly walked up the walkway. The night had felt like a dream—it still did. It was like they were all going to wake up at any moment, and everything would be back to normal.

Stefan turned the knob and swung the door open, and they all stepped in. Stefan, the first one in, immediately came in contact with a smell that was similar to roses. He turned his head to see a woman lounging in a recliner. She aimlessly twirled about a dozen of dark colored wild roses, staring at them intently.

Her head looked up when she heard them enter. Her cat like dark eyes surveyed everyone before smiling devilishly, red lips parting over white teeth. Then, with an excited tone, she held up the roses and exclaimed, "Found it!"

_**Well? Please review! More chapters to come—some of my favorite! **_

_**Oh! And I'm a beta reader now! I'd love to help with some stories if you need it! **_

_***midnightwings96***_


	20. Unthinkable

_**This is one of my FAVORITE chapters! I hope you love it as much as I do! Some of my best writing, if I do say so myself. **_

When Stefan first saw her, he was…surprised to say the least. She lounged sideways on a recliner, feet hanging off the armchair, twirling a bunch of wilted dark burgundy wild roses in her hands. Her hair cascaded down her back in long, dark brown—almost black—hair. She had dark, cat-like eyes that were extraordinarily attentive and quick. She had full, dark red lips and olive skin, perfectly tanned. She wore black jeans, ankle boots, a red lacy tank top, and a black leather jacket. _Meredith_, Stefan thought. It had to be her.

When Meredith heard them enter the boarding house, she whipped her head around to see. She saw her old friend Alaric—still handsome as ever—helping Elena walk in the house, some blonde girl carrying a young unconscious boy over her shoulder—most likely Jeremy, and an unconscious Damon being carried by someone she'd never seen before, but yet she had.

His wavy bronze hair was brushed back—almost superhero like—and his emerald green eyes were tired and sad. He was tall and muscular and extraordinarily handsome. It had to be Stefan, Damon's brother. But, her mind kept screaming _James! James! _But she knew it wasn't him, because James was dead.

The resemblance between her dead boyfriend and the man standing before him was remarkable. They were not alike in the same way as Elena was to Katherine. They were not identical…not by a long shot, but they walked the same way, they had the same bronze hair color, the same emerald eyes.

As she spoke, "Found it!" she was thinking only one and one thing only.

_I have to know him._

***TVD***

After Bonnie had come back, Jeremy had been stashed in the basement, Damon had been put in his room with Elena watching over him, Alaric and Meredith reunited, and Caroline was asleep on the couch, Stefan crashed on the couch and poured him a glass of bourbon. He wasn't one to drink often, but he had never needed a drink more than that moment.

Behind him, he heard a melodic voice that sounded like silk, "Mind if I join you?" He turned to see Meredith watching him with her cat-like eyes and a slight grin on her face.

"Sure," he said, pouring another glass. She took it and plopped on the other end of the couch, taking a sip.

They were silent awhile before Stefan said, "So, how did you find the cure?"

She scoffed and kicked her legs up onto the couch, "By going through a bitch load of trouble and crap." She took another sip—more like a gulp this time. "But, seriously, though? I had to go through about every single God-forsaken book in that place and then find Isobel's stash down in the basement of her old house and dig about a mile deep to find one tiny little metal box, and bang! I found the stupid flowers."

Stefan had to admit…he was impressed at her diligence…and her interesting way of telling a story. "And what about the salt? Did you find it?"

She laughed. "Didn't have to. It's just table salt. The flowers were the bitch to find. But, oh well, it's all over now." Stefan nodded and gulped down the rest of his bourbon.

"So...how did you…come to know Isobel?" Stefan asked out of curiosity.

Her face darkened at the mention of Isobel. "She used to be my best friend—Alaric, too. I knew about vampires from her studies and I was the first one she came to after she had turned. I was amazed—at first. Then I started to realize how the Isobel that was like a sister to me was dead and gone. What she did to Alaric? Unforgivable. And then…she killed my boyfriend, James. Just because she was mad at me. I don't even know what I did, but James died because of it. From that day on, I vowed I would kill any vampire that I ever came across." She shot a glance at Stefan. "You're lucky you don't have a stake in your heart right now."

Stefan laughed slightly, "I'm glad of that." He looked at Meredith, sincerity in his eyes, and said, "I'm very sorry about your boyfriend. Isobel shut off her emotions…she didn't care what she did or who she hurt or how she hurt them. She still doesn't. I know how it feels to feel loss."

She watched him, shock in her eyes. "You haven't shut your emotions off. I can tell."

He shook his head. "No. Even though I could do without the hurt, I think _feeling _is worth it. To not _feel _anything, would be like being dead. Just an empty shell."

She leaned back into the arm rest of the couch again. "You're not like other vampires, Stefan."

"I try not to be. I don't _want _to be what I am, but there's no reversing it, so I try to make life as…_worthwhile _as possible. I don't want to hurt innocent people, so that's why I hunt animals…but I need to keep some human blood in my system to keep my strength."

Her eyes widened, "So…you don't hurt humans?"

He shook his head, "Try not to. It's very hard sometimes, but it's worth it in the end."

"You eat animals, huh? So…you're like a bunny eater?" She had a wry smile splayed on her lips.

They both laughed, and Stefan couldn't help but feel that…even though he still loved Elena, and even though they might not be meant for each other…he felt…hope. Hope that there really was someone out there for him.

Hope that that someone was sitting right across from him.

***TVD***

Damon slowly came out of the darkness. It was like he was in a deep well, and he was flying towards the sunlight above at a mind boggling speed.

He felt his eyelids slowly open to see the dark mahogany wood rafters of his bedroom ceiling.

He remembered exactly what had happened. Unlike most cases, Damon didn't have to wait for his memories to come flooding to the forefront of his mind. They were already there. But they still were kicked to the side when it came to one thought.

_Is Elena safe?_

At that very moment, he felt something warm and soft in his hand. It felt like velvet. Immediately, he realized who was holding his hand. He had memorized the feel of her touch and the smell of her skin. It was one of a kind, and only one person could have quite that velvety skin, or quite that wonderful scent.

He turned his head slowly to the left to see that one person sitting on the side of his bed with her hand enveloped in his.

_Elena._

Her soft, incredible brown eyes landed on his, and he knew he had done it. He had succeeded.

And survived. To once again see her.

"Elena," he whispered. It surprised him how weak he felt. It was like an anvil was lying on his chest. But, then again, he should have died, so naturally he would be tired. But he never imagined _this _tired. He could hardly lift his head up.

Elena was hit by a rush of undeniable relief when his blue eyes met hers and his lips uttered her name.

She scooted closer to Damon, not letting go of his hand. She felt as if she let go, he would go away and never come back. She had lost him so many times already that she couldn't bear for it to happen again and be…permanent this time.

"Damon," she said softly, so glad to see he was fine…well, not fine…but _alive._

His voice came out as a whisper, like that was all he was capable of doing. "Did you…did you catch Jeremy? Is he…?" Even though it was obvious to Elena that he was unbelievably weak, his blue eyes were smoldering, burning a hole through her soul.

"He's still unconscious from the vervain. Caroline put him in the basement until he wakes up. We'll give him the cure when he comes to. He's going to be okay." She smiled at him.

His heart warmed up when he saw how happy Elena was. "Meredith found the cure?"

"Yeah. She said it was a bitch to find. A rare form of dark red wild rose. It's supposed to be crushed and mixed in water with salt. He has to drink it."

He chuckled weakly. "I had no doubt she would find it." He wasn't surprised that that was the cure. It was an old legend that wild roses and a line of salt were weaknesses for vampires…but it never had occurred to him that it worked…to a certain extent. It had no effect on him, but since Jeremy was one of a kind, there were sure to be new strengths…and new weaknesses.

"Damon…why did you do that? Why did you _risk _yourself like that? You could've _died,_" she said, voice close to cracking from oncoming tears that she immediately pushed back.

He stared at her for a long time. Then, with a large breath, voice melodic and fluid and beautiful like running water, "Elena, I have spent most of my existence torturing and killing innocent…and not so innocent, people. But now…it's different. _I'm _different…because of you. And if something were to happen to you, I don't know how long I could be…strong. How long I could feel like I'm worthy of living. I need you, Elena. _That's _why I did it."

"Damon, I-" Elena didn't get to finish what she was saying as she noticed Damon trying to sit up, and failing miserably. "What is it Damon? What do you need?" her hands seemed to float in the air between them as she tried to ease the pained look on Damon's face.

His veins were on fire…and there was only one thing that could fix that. He couldn't even recall clearly the last time he had blood. Fire coursed through his lungs and pain shot up his body like he was being electrocuted. He moaned and collapsed.

Elena was on her feet immediately. Her brown eyes were wide with fear. Seeing invincible Damon collapse onto a bed in pain was almost shocking to her. She never thought she'd see the day.

As the pain subsided a little, he sighed and said reluctantly, "Blood."

_Oh._ Elena mentally smacked her forehead. Of _course _he would need blood. She looked into his eyes again, and found herself lost.

Damon felt his heart in his throat when he saw Elena do the unthinkable. She stared at him, eyes like melting dark chocolate, and with a look of absolute trust, she scooted closer towards him slowly. With one last look, she let go of his hand and ran her hands through her beautiful silky hair, and pulled it over one shoulder, leaving the satiny olive skin of her neck in the open.

Damon's captivating eyes widened in shock as he looked at her. "What are you doing, Elena?" From the sound of his voice, Elena knew that Damon understood _exactly _what she was doing.

"Damon, just do it. It's okay. I promise."

They shared a lingering look before Damon said, "Come closer."

Heart thudding heavily, she came closer.

With a deep breath, he pushed himself upright again. He ignored the splitting pain coursing through his body and leaned back against the intricately designed wooden headboard of his bed. He gritted his teeth and closed his eyes in pain. He felt Elena's hands on his shoulder. He didn't like that she was seeing him like this. _No one _saw him like this. Vulnerable. _Weak._ But…this was Elena. If anyone was going to see him in his weakest state, it was her.

He slowly opened his eyes again to see her staring at him with worry plain on her face. Her hair still hung on one shoulder. He felt his eyes trail to the smooth contours of her neck. He could practically _see _the pulsing blood underneath her thin, fragile skin.

He didn't know what to think about what Elena was letting him do. It was odd. He _wanted _to do it…but, he didn't…because he wasn't sure how she would react to him.

He snapped out of it and looked back into her eyes, "I'm fine." With obvious relief in her eyes and a brief nod, she sat fully on the bed, pulling her feet up onto the bed as well.

They were so close that she could feel his sweet breath sweep across her face. It was disorienting, making her mind fuzzy.

However, she was highly aware of when he delicately picked up a strand of hair off her exposed neck and pulled it away. As always, electricity and adrenaline shot through her veins as he heart sped into another gear.

He gave her another look of indecision, his face worried.

Confident, Elena gave him a small nod as she tilted her head slightly.

Then, slowly, she saw his gorgeous face change…not into something horrible, but something different, yet still just as beautiful…and even more intriguing. Red seeped into his eyes, bloodying them, but making the unbelievable blue color of his irises stand out even more. Underneath his eyes, dark purple veins rose on his smooth skin, and two sharp white fangs in between his marvelous lips came into her view.

Slowly, he leaned in, his black hair falling down to land on her neck. It felt like feathers. He slowly brushed his lips against her skin. It felt even more soft and inviting against his lips. Slowly, he parted his teeth, never leaving her skin.

Elena gasped slightly at the feeling of his fangs sweeping across her neck. Anticipation and nervousness rocked through her body. She didn't know what to expect. She was guessing it would hurt.

Then, gently, carefully, he pressed the tips of his fangs into her neck, immediately drawing blood. Elena felt two small pricks on her neck, unlike the excruciating pain she had expected. She had been fed on before, and it had been the worst pain she had ever felt…but Damon hadn't hurt her at all. She felt his lips against her neck as he gently clamped on and began to drink.

Elena's blood filled Damon's mouth and slid down his throat with ecstasy. It was unlike anything he'd experienced before. The taste was extraordinary. Throughout all his years, Damon had tasted the blood of many different people, but Elena's was the best by far. She tasted…different, in a way that only Elena could possess. She tasted like…love and…life. Utter happiness fell upon him. This wasn't just some fling to get his mind off something. This was something that he didn't even know existed. Was even _possible._ It was the epitome of his existence.

Elena felt her heart begin to pound as a feeling she had not expected swept through her body. Absolute, unbearable pleasure shot through her. She hadn't felt anything close to the feeling except for sleeping with Stefan. But this…this was…_better._ It was like they were sharing souls.

But…she realized that it wasn't just _her _pleasure she was feeling, it was _his,_ too. She could feel everything: his anguish, his excitement, his joy, his sadness, and his ecstasy course through her, intensifying her pleasure even more. They really _were _sharing each other's souls.

She could feel him getting stronger, because soon, he sat up without the support of the headboard and his hands gently gripped her shoulders, holding her steady.

Slowly, Damon knew he had to stop. He hadn't taken a lot of blood, but he knew she would be severely light headed.

Elena breathed heavily, unable to control her racing heart.

Damon slowly stopped and pulled away, brushing his lips against her skin again. Elena let out a large breath. She was _sad _that he had stopped. The pleasure rushed away, but with that and her blood loss, left a lingering feeling that made her feel lightheaded and kind of like Jell-O.

He leaned back, and immediately they met each other's gazes. Damon saw a slight blush on her cheeks, and he could hear her heart race. He was quite aware that she was trying to hide the fact that she had enjoyed that as much as he did.

She could feel blood—what was left of it—rush to her cheeks. She tried to hide the obvious pleasure she had experienced from his bite, but she knew she was failing miserably. Involuntarily, she felt her eyes trail down to his lips. She could see the remnants of her blood on his lips.

Damon stopped breathing when she reached over and gently wiped away the excess blood on his lips with her thumb as she asked with a small, flushed smile, "Better?"

More than he had ever been in his long life.

_**Well? PLEASE REVIEW! THIS IS MY FAVORITE CHAPTER SO I WANT A LOT OF FEEDBACK! **_

_**I am also a beta reader! If you need help with a story, I'll be glad to help! **_

**GO DAMON! AAAIIIEEEE! **


	21. Thrown Away Inhibitions

Elena looked at her neck in the large mirror of Damon's exquisite bathroom.

Two small, round marks were easily visible on her olive skin. She pulled all her hair onto that one side and _attempted _to hide it as much as possible. However, the world spinning didn't help her at all. "When will all this dizziness go away?" she called, gripping the granite countertop for support.

Damon walked by the door—shirtless— and stopped. He looked at her and said, "Probably in a few minutes. It won't last long." He then pulled his shirt over his head and walked out of Elena's view.

She mentally tried to shake the image of a shirtless Damon out of her head—to no avail. Elena still felt a little like Jell-O. Slightly unstable. She looked at herself in the mirror—still a little blurry—and sighed before walking out of the bathroom and back into his bedroom. He was pouring a glass of bourbon, his leather clad back turned to her.

She clumsily walked across the room and towards a chair, but before she even came close, the world swayed again, and she tripped over her own feet.

She braced herself for the hard wood floor, but it never came.

However, the feel of cool leather was evident on her skin. As she fell into Damon's arms, he said, "Woopsy Daisy." She looked up to come in contact with his smoldering gaze. She stared in awe. How could he make such a stupid saying sound so incredibly…_hot?_

"You okay?" he asked sincerely, eyes blazing. All Elena could do was nod. She was transfixed into his gaze.

Damon looked at Elena, his eyes jumping from her chocolate eyes to her full lips. Before he could even stop to convince himself that it would end in disaster, he slowly moved his lips towards hers.

Elena stayed frozen, unable to do anything else as he leaned in.

Just as he could smell the cinnamon like smell of her breath and his lips came so close to touching hers, a loud bang came from underneath them. Damon froze. _The basement._

Elena blinked in confusion when Damon exclaimed, _"Shit!" _in her face. Damon set her on her feet and grasped her hand. Before he dragged her down the stairs, he turned and simply said, _"Jeremy."_

He had woken up.

Damon ended up carrying Elena as he flashed down the stairs and into the basement. In a matter of two very dizzying seconds, Damon had taken her to the basement and set her on her feet. She swayed for a moment, but when she actually comprehended what she was seeing, her dizziness was gone with the wind.

Jeremy was writhing on the floor, growling menacingly as Stefan held his head to the ground, Alaric and Meredith had his arms, and Caroline had his legs as they all tried desperately to keep him pinned. Bonnie sat on the ground, hand on her jaw. Jeremy must have hurt her. Bonnie sent Damon and Elena a desperate look.

In a flash, Damon got on his knees and pinned his shoulders down. Jeremy was stronger than Damon at the moment, but Damon sure as hell was going to give him a hard time. Elena—clueless as to what to do—ran up to Jeremy and straddled his chest, trying to use her weight to help keep him down.

Jeremy snapped at her, bloody eyes flaming and long fangs inches from her face.

Jeremy writhed underneath Elena, close to throwing her off and escaping again.

"Where the hell are the freaking flowers?" Damon yelled, struggling to keep Jeremy from biting Elena's face off. Bonnie stumbled forward and handed Elena a flask full of water, bits of dark red wild roses, and long ago dissolved salt. Jeremy's eyes burned when he saw the flask and he kicked, managing to kick Caroline in the face. She let out a small yelp before being quiet again.

"Get his mouth open!" Elena shrieked as she tried to steady herself. She watched Stefan hold his head in an unbreakable grip as Damon slowly pried Jeremy's mouth open, revealing deadly fangs—longer than Damon's or Stefan's.

"Shit! Damn it, Elena! Give him the damn roses!" Damon yelled, wincing as Jeremy's teeth mangled his hands.

Heart pounding and hands shaking, she quickly raised the flask to his mouth and poured it down his throat.

A horrible, gut wrenching sizzling sound filled the room along with Jeremy's screams as the roses and salt scorched his throat, similar to what vervain does to Damon and Stefan. Jeremy's eyes widened in horror and pain. He roared terrifyingly and pulled his arms free and kicked Caroline, sending her into the wall next to Bonnie. Her head hit the hard wall with a sickening crack.

Jeremy glared at Elena and with one quick heave, he shoved her off of him and into the air. The air whooshed through her hair before she landed hard on the concrete, wincing as her shoulder took most of the impact.

Damon growled as he saw Elena hit the floor. Before he could think about what he was doing, he sent his already healed fist flying towards Jeremy's face.

With a blindingly fast movement, Jeremy dodged it and pried Stefan's hands from him and jumped up to his feet. Pain shot through Damon's jaw as his body realized the power behind a punch that Jeremy had given him. He hadn't been punched like that in years. _Ever, _really.

A disgusting choking sound came from Jeremy as he frantically looked around. Elena saw when his eyes landed on the basement door. "No! Jeremy!" she shrieked as he began to run up the stairs. Damon cussed under his breath as he saw Jeremy's blur of a body run up the stairs.

He immediately ran after him, Stefan and Caroline on his heels. Ahead, he could hear some sort of gagging noise emanating from Jeremy.

When he reached the top of the stairs and turned the corner to the front hall, he saw Jeremy ahead, running…and still coughing. He heard his brother and Blondie call Elena's little brother's name from behind him.

He turned his head and hissed threateningly. Then, he launched himself towards the front door.

Damon had never moved so fast in his life. He sprinted towards Jeremy and leaped. Just barely, he grabbed hold of his ankle, sending them both to the hard floor with a thud. Caroline and Stefan were on top of him in the blink of an eye…but still too slowly to prevent Damon from getting kicked in the face.

Jeremy's struggles eventually were replaced by violent gagging. His whole body shook as the most disgusting of noises came from his body.

Damon heard the running footsteps of Elena, Alaric, and Meredith from behind him.

Slowly, he couldn't hold himself up. Jeremy collapsed to the floor and was silent.

It was quiet for a long time. No one was sure of how to react. Elena looked at Damon worriedly and Damon smiled crookedly, telling her that he was fine. She sighed quietly in relief.

"Now what?" Caroline asked, voice tired and slightly frazzled.

Meredith grimaced. She hadn't enjoyed seeing all of this. "Now…all we can do is wait. And pray that it works."

***TVD***

For what seemed like hours, everyone waited for Jeremy to wake up. Stefan had moved him to the couch, and he still seemed…unconscious or dead or…something. Bonnie was watching him intently, along with Elena who sat next to Damon, who was pouring himself a glass of blood. Damon's energy that he had gained from Elena's blood had been sucked from his body with catching Jeremy.

Elena watched Damon take a long drink of the red liquid and it sent her back to earlier that morning and what had happened and how she had felt. Almost as if in a dream, she was reliving that undeniable pleasure from Damon drinking her blood. It had been…extraordinary.

Almost as if he could read her mind, his beautiful blue eyes caught hers after he removed the glass from his lips. As quickly as she could—not quickly enough—she pulled her gaze from his and attempted to hide the blush coloring her cheeks.

Trying to avoid his gaze, she aimlessly watched Stefan, Alaric, and Meredith talk quietly in the corner and Caroline twiddling with her fingers.

Then, making everyone jump in their seat, Jeremy sucked in a large gasp and bolted upright, breathing hard and frantically looking around the room.

Elena was on her feet immediately. _"Jeremy!"_ She hurled herself at her little brother with a large smile only to have strong arms pull her back.

"Wait a second. At least test out the flower power before you get all affectionate and he goes all serial killer on your neck." He said in a sarcastic, but still deadly serious voice.

Even though Elena thought Damon was overreacting, she knew he had a point. "Jeremy? How do you feel?" Stefan asked, taking slow steps towards him.

Jeremy looked around, a confused look still on his face. "I feel…normal."

Stefan came closer and stared into his eyes. He then smiled and sighed. "He's fine. Totally human."

Damon then chuckled and said, "_Now _you can get all affectionate." He released her and she ran into Jeremy, wrapping her arms around him.

"_Jeremy,_" she whispered. Bonnie then came behind her and wrapped her arms around him as well. Elena—for the first time in months—felt relieved.

Her baby brother was back.

***TVD***

Later that night, Elena eventually took Jeremy and drove back home for the first time in a week. Jeremy hadn't remembered anything from the 4th of July fiasco with Mayor Lockwood and all, and he had insisted on them telling him what he had done. Even though no one had died, Jeremy was clearly depressed. But…she knew he would be able to eventually forgive himself and heal. Just like Elena had.

When she finally comforted him enough to get to sleep, she found herself yawning and made her way to the bathroom to brush her teeth and get dressed.

After brushing the multiple snarls from her hair, she walked into her bedroom in her pajamas. She then came face to face with none other than Damon, features pulled together in a worried yet thoughtful look. She wasn't necessarily surprised to see him there. She had grown to not be surprised by his presence, it only comforted her. However, she was surprised to see the troubling look on his face.

"Elena, I need to tell you something," Damon said, looking from his hands to her eyes.

She looked at him curiously. He looked…sad and…nervous? "What is it?" she asked, worried.

"You trust me, right?" he asked, blue eyes blazing.

Before she could even think, her lips uttered, "Yes." She could remember the time when she didn't trust a bone in Damon's body, but now…she trusted him with her life.

"I've been keeping something from you. And it's been _eating _at me for so long…and…now, I think you can handle the truth," he said, getting up from the window seat.

Elena's eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "Damon, what are you talking about?"

He slowly walked towards her. "Do you…do you remember how you got your necklace back from Elijah?"

Elena thought back to that dark time. She remembered that she had lost it and…magically had it back one day. What had _happened? _There was just a blank spot in her memory, no matter how hard she thought! But…who? Her eyes landed on the man in front of her. Anger surged through her, about to bubble over. "You didn't," she said darkly.

"Elena, I had to." He looked sincere, but Elena was too angry to notice.

"You. Erased. My. Memory," she growled.

"Elena—"

'What happened that night? What was it that made it so bad for you to take it away from me?" she exclaimed, her voice rising higher in pitch and louder in volume.

"Because…because I told you the most selfish thing I had ever said in my life. And you had so much on your shoulders, I…I couldn't add something else. But…I'm willing to give it back to you…but only if you want it, Elena." His eyes were dead serious, but smoldered.

She was shocked. And completely unsure. Yes, she wanted to remember. But did she want to know something that even _Damon _had enough conscience to take away? Elena wasn't so sure. But, it might be something major in her life, and she wasn't willing to give it up. Memories are too important.

Still angry at Damon for messing with her mind, she said stiffly, "Of _course_, I want it back."

He studied her for a moment, then nodded. Slowly, he unclasped her necklace—his fingers brushing the soft skin of her neck—and set it down on her bed. Her guard immediately went up—she felt vulnerable without her necklace. But…she trusted Damon to do the right thing. To be the better man. Yes, he sure as hell was rebellious, cunning, and easily pissed off, but, at rare times, he could be sweet, caring, and almost…_loving._

She looked in his beautiful, captivating blue eyes, which were now completely open to her. She could see his soul. Damon didn't even say anything; he didn't have to. Just like the snap of a finger, he gave Elena the memory that would change everything.

Whether the change was good or not, Damon wasn't sure.

It was like Elena was transported into the memory as it flooded back into her mind.

"_Cute PJs," Damon said, sitting on the window seat with a troubled look on his face._

"_I'm tired, Damon," she said, uncomfortable._

"_I know," he said, getting up, "I just thought you might want this back." He lifted her necklace up with a small smile._

"_My necklace! I thought I'd lost it!" She was surprised that it was Damon that had gone out of his way to get it back, not Stefan. She reached for it eagerly, but he pulled it back. Her mood immediately went downhill. "Please give it back," she said, voice low and cautious._

"_I need to tell you something first," he said, an anguished look on his face._

"_Why do you need to tell me with my necklace?" she said, gradually getting more wary and guarded, unsure of what was going to happen._

_He looked at her sadly and said, "Because this is probably the most selfish thing I've ever said in my life."_

_Elena was starting to get an idea about what this was about. "Damon, don't go there."_

"_I just need to say it once. You just need to hear it," he interrupted, his eyes more emotional now than ever. He took a deep breath and stared deeply into her eyes, like he was searching for something. His next words knocked the breath out of her. "I love you, Elena. And…it's because I love you…that I can't be selfish with you," he brushed a stray hair from her face, "I don't deserve you." He looked and sounded agonized and, unbelievably, close to tears. "But my brother does."_

_Damon's unbelievable selflessness basically sent Elena into a state of shock. All she could do was look at him. With a pained look, he slowly kissed her forehead, his lips lingering on her skin._

"_God, I wish you didn't have to forget this…but you do." She automatically looked into his horribly grieved eyes to see a single tear run down his cheek._

Elena was sucked back into the present with a gasp.

She couldn't believe it.

Damon loved her.

She knew he was attracted to her. She wasn't stupid. But she always thought it was a possessive or sexual thing. Or, hell, maybe he just wanted her because Stefan had loved her. But…it was all clear now. Damon was in love with her. Everyone had seen it. Except for her.

Her wide eyes flashed to Damon's waiting ones. He looked slightly…bashful, in a way, but he still looked at her head on.

Damon's heart was pounding painfully against his chest, waiting for her to say _something!_

"Damon," Elena whispered, unable to say another word.

He studied her face, and his expectant expression changed to something closed off and hurt. He looked away from her gaze. "Point taken," he stated. Hurt was evident in his voice. Not wanting her to see his reaction, Damon turned to leave.

_No! He can't go _now!Elena thought. Instinctively, she put her hand on his shoulder. "Damon," she pleaded.

With a sigh he turned around.

As soon as their eyes met, Elena felt herself give in to her heart. She stood on her toes and gently pressed her lips to his. She felt that intoxicating electric feeling in her lips, even though his didn't move. Just his skin on hers sent her to the moon.

She pulled away to look at his expression. His eyebrows were pulled together in question. Slowly, he placed his hands on the sides of her face, her soft skin like silk underneath his sensitive touch. She felt his sweet breath sweep across her face, making her light headed. With one last hesitant look, he kissed her gently, softly, and slowly, his lips lingering on hers.

The connection between them was mind blowing. Damon had never experienced something so sweet and tender and full of _love._ The only person he had ever loved before was Katherine.

And what he had for her was _nothing_ compared to what he had for Elena.

Damon had, naturally, thought that kissing Elena would be like kissing Katherine.

He was wrong.

It was so much more…it didn't need passion or possession to be a life changing experience. It was love and tenderness and compassion…something he'd never felt until he met Elena.

Elena had thought that Stefan was it. Stefan was the one. Her soul mate. When Stefan kissed her, it had been truly amazing.

Kissing Damon was different.

It was better.

Yes, she had always been attracted to Damon. But, who wasn't? She was surprised that she didn't just feel want from him. She felt love emanating from his body like waves.

He truly did love her.

Did she love him? The answer was simple, and she was sure of it now.

Yes, she did.

They broke the gentle kiss at the same time. Elena let out a breath she hadn't realized she was holding.

Damon wore a smile on his face—not smug, sarcastic, or amused, but loving. He then said softly, "I _do _love you, you know."

Unable to take it any longer, Elena swooped her head up and crashed her lips onto his, and his will crumbled immediately. But, there really wasn't much of his will to begin with when it came to Elena. He moved his lips with hers in perfect synchronization. Everything that had built up inside _both _of them came to the surface. He wrapped his arms around her slender waist and pulled her towards him, desperate to be closer. She slid her hands over his face and into his dark silky hair, tangling her fingers in it.

They had never felt so much emotion and pleasure in their entire lives.

Elena pulled back slightly and opened her eyes to see his unbelievably blue ones watching her. With a smile, she said, "I love you, too."

A joyous smile spread across his face. He let out a quiet, astonished laugh before her lips were on his again.

Slowly, his eyes still extraordinarily happy but…questioning at the same time. Elena's breath hitched in her throat when she felt his fingers pull down a strap to her tank top. She felt his hand run down her shoulder before moving the other strap.

No longer thinking, just feeling, she run her hands up his black clad chest and slowly unbuttoned his silk shirt, exposing the sculpted white of his chest. He was so beautiful.

Without her hands leaving his skin, she pulled the shirt off his shoulders and let it drop to the floor. He was perfect, like a statue of a Greek god.

Never leaving her gaze, Damon slowly pulled her tank top over her head and threw it on the floor. She was so beautiful it took his breath away.

He gently pulled her onto the soft sheets of his bed, and Elena knew that she wanted this. She _needed _this.

Then they both threw all their inhibitions away and let their love for each other take over.

***TVD***

Elena awoke to the rays of light coming through the window and casting rainbows on her skin. She sighed deeply, more happy than she had ever been in her life. Elena turned her head to see a sleeping Damon, peaceful and perfect, at her side. She smiled at the sight of him. He looked so…innocent with his black hair messy and a slight smile on his lips.

She gently stroked his cheek with the back of her hand and trailed it down his neck and onto his muscular chest. With a sigh, he smiled and placed his hand on hers. His eyes slowly opened to come in contact with the chocolate ones he had fallen in love with.

"Good morning," Elena said in a whisper.

"That, it is," Damon said with a smile, his voice like velvet. He turned on his side, still grasping her hand, and stroked her hair with his other.

He kissed her slowly and sweetly before pulling her to his chest, needing to feel her bare skin on his. Elena was enveloped into the warmth of his arms and gladly welcomed it.

"I love you," Elena whispered in his ear. Damon's heart pounded at those three words, and he knew that Elena could feel it—and probably hear it, too.

"I love you, too," he whispered back. He had never said anything so truthful.

And, at that moment, they knew that everything was right in the world at this moment. _For _this moment.

_**Please review! And I'm not quite done yet!**_

_**Sorry it took so long to update…Fanfic was screwed up and I couldn't get it to upload!**_


	22. Epilogue: The Power of Love

**Thank you! **

**I just wanted to thank all of my readers and all of my reviewers for the wonderful support! **_**The Power of Love **_**is my favorite story of mine (and the first one completely finished). It will always own a piece of my heart (along with Damon and Ian). I wish I could just continue writing this story until it's about 100 chapters long, but I feel that it's time for it to come to a close. The story has been told.**

**It's been a wonderful journey, and I'd love to hear what your favorite part in **_**The Power of Love **_**was!**

**And, now, I feel bittersweet to be announcing the final update of **_**The Power of Love…**_**but, here it is…**

_5 years later._

The slight tickling sensation of brush bristles brushed across Elena's face lightly. She inhaled deeply and slowly let it go, her breath escaping between her perfectly glossed lips. Her heart nervously thudded. She felt acutely aware of everything, even with her eyes closed. The slight clanking of Caroline's and Bonnie's heels against the floor. The silent brush of silk and satin against skin. Small locks of her hair being wrapped around a curling iron then pinned up with hair pins.

Two hours went by easily, but it went by so fast Elena had mistaken it for merely minutes. "Elena, we have to hurry. We only have about 25 minutes left," Caroline said. Elena's eyelids fluttered open to see her reflection in the mirror.

At least, she was _almost _sure it was her reflection. There was no doubt that Elena had natural beauty, but she had never been so beautiful. Her hair was, literally, a work of art. The sides were pulled back with the rest intricately curled and floating down her back. Sporadic purple and little white flowers adorned the crown of her head, standing out beautifully against the rich chocolate brown color of her hair. Her eyes were given dimension by a shadowy brown, making them sparkle. Her lips were a soft shiny pink that gave it a graceful, elegant, natural look. Caroline had outdone herself.

Speaking of Caroline, she was beautiful herself. Her blonde hair was down and curly, passing her shoulders, and the one shouldered chiffon lavender dress flowed gracefully to the floor. And little Bonnie was gorgeous in the same dress, her mocha skin perfect with the color of the dress.

Caroline frowned in impatience. She then—gently—pulled Elena from the chair. "Come _on. _We've got to hurry!"

Elena quickly stepped into the awaiting dress being held by Bonnie and felt a rush of nervousness as the soft chiffon brushed across her skin. Caroline quickly zipped it up right at the moment Jeremy walked in.

"It's time to get going, Elena."

Elena looked up at her awaiting brother frantically and said, "Uh…yeah. Okay. Coming," as she hastily put on her satin heels.

Bonnie reassuringly rested her hands on her shoulders. "Don't worry. You look absolutely beautiful."

Caroline smiled. "Yep! You're a knockout. You'll probably send him into a state of shock…I need to have my camera ready for that." Elena laughed lightly, amused, but too nervous to show it.

Another small knock at the door before Meredith's head poked in. Her dark—almost black—hair was curled like Caroline's and Bonnie's and her dress gracefully flowing to the ground. She was beautiful, too. "Elena? He's waiting…" She smiled, her perfect lips lifting to show white teeth.

Jeremy smiled, brotherly love evident on his face. "Elena…you look…_wow," _he said as he held his arm out to her.

She grasped to his arm for dear life and shakily said, "You don't look half bad yourself, Jer." He chuckled lightly as he walked her out of the room. Meredith, Caroline, and Bonnie said their _I love you_s and _Good luck_s before lining up in front of Jeremy and Elena.

Then, she heard a guitar and violins begin to play.

Her heart just about burst at that moment.

She clutched to Jeremy's arm and he comfortingly placed his other hand on hers.

Elena watched Meredith gracefully descend the curving staircase of the Lockwood Mansion. About ten steps after, Caroline followed. Then, after looking back and smiling warmly at her, Bonnie descended as well, purple and white bouquet in hand.

"You ready?" Jeremy whispered.

Elena swallowed hard. "No."

He looked at her and said, voice sure and strong, "Yes, you are. I know you are. You will do amazing." Elena smiled at her little brother before he nodded towards the stairs and said, "Come on, let's make them cry," he said, smiling crookedly. Then, he began to escort her down the stairs.

As Elena carefully walked down the steps, she tried to keep her heart beat the same tempo as the music. As she listened to the melodic runs in the violins and the chords emanating from the guitar, she felt herself begin to calm down.

She felt her nervousness drain from her body. Before she knew it, they had reached the bottom of the staircase. She gripped her bouquet in the hand that wasn't killing Jeremy's arm and stood straight.

Then, she turned the corner to see all her loved ones standing, awaiting her arrival.

She smiled casually, attempting to keep her nervousness at bay. Carefully, she stepped down the steps and onto the awaiting white carpet. Her eyes trailed through the crowd and up at the altar. To the right, she saw a debonair looking Alaric, hands at his sides and a smiling Stefan—beautiful as always—with his green eyes sparkling and his wavy bronze hair brushed back. To the left she saw Meredith, looking exotic with her dark hair and tan skin, Caroline, looking like an angel, and little Bonnie, who had a smile on her face.

Then, she saved the best for last. Her eyes moved under the purple and white flowered arch and was destined to never move again.

She had to hold back a gasp. He looked like a magnificent dark angel; it took her breath away. He wore a crisp, clean black tux with one lone purple flower tucked into his pocket. His silky, ebony black hair was brushed back, as if he had run his fingers through his hair multiple times. It was unbelievably sexy. His crystal clear, beautiful blue eyes shined and he wore a breathtaking smile on his lips.

And, remarkably, it wasn't just his trademark—yet sexy—crooked smile. He smiled brightly, his perfect white teeth glistening in the sun. She felt her heart thud heavily as she took him in.

She knew that she would never get tired of doing that.

***TVD***

For the first time in his life as a vampire, Damon felt himself truly smile out of utter happiness as he saw Elena walk down the stairs and towards him.

He watched in awe at how magnificently beautiful she looked. Her silky chocolate hair was pinned up, but with most of it trailing down her back in curls. Her face was slightly clouded by the sheer white chiffon veil that covered it, but he could see her captivating brown eyes and her full lips.

She wore an empire waist dress made of silky chiffon. It had a heart shaped neckline and a strap that crossed over her collarbone. It looked as if it was made with multiple layers of the flowing fabric, because as she walked—at an agonizingly slow pace—it billowed out behind her. She looked like an angel.

An angel that had come to earth to be with him.

Their eyes locked and it was like they were the only two people on earth. Everyone else faded from view, leaving the two lovers alone to do whatever they cared to do.

After what seemed like an eternity, she reached him. Close enough now to see clearly through her veil, he could see her large, brown, doe eyes staring up at him in awe.

Jeremy unlinked his arm from Elena's. Feeling the absence of Jeremy's support was the only thing that could tear Elena's gaze from Damon's smoldering gaze and breathtaking smile. She looked over at her handsome brother. With a loving smile, he grasped her hand. She watched Damon smile and extend his hand towards them. Then, Jeremy placed his sister's hand in Damon's. The warmth of his hand swept through Elena immediately and dizzied her, but Jeremy kept her sober by gently kissing her on the cheek and joining Stefan and Alaric. Her thoughts only on Damon and her hand in his, she stood across from him and placed her other hand in his as well, and she felt like she had come home.

They watched each other, lost in each other's eyes. Damon's seemed abnormally bright, like he was finally…happy.

Before they knew it, the ceremony had begun.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, today we have gathered together to celebrate the marriage of Elena Gilbert and Damon Salvatore. Marriage is the promise between two people who love each other, who trust that love, who honor one another as individuals in that togetherness, and who wish to spend rest of their lives together. It enables the two separate souls to share their desires, longings, dreams, and memories, their joys and sorrows, and to help each other through all uncertainties of life."

That was entirely right, except for the fact that they weren't two separate souls. They were one. They thought as one. They acted as one. They _lived _as one. They shared souls. Without each other, they couldn't function. They couldn't thrive. They couldn't _survive._

Lost in the icy blue abyss of Damon's eyes, the ceremony flew by.

She didn't even hear what the minister had said before Damon—voice like soft velvet—repeated it. He stared at her, eyes smoldering, as he said, "I, Damon Salvatore, take you, Elena Gilbert," his melodic baritone voice wrapped around her name in a way that made her melt. He continued, "to be my wife, and my better. I will take care and cherish our relationship and love you today, tomorrow, and _forever_." His eyes opened up for her again. She was absolutely certain that what he was saying was coming from his soul. That he meant and cherished every word. "I will always be open, honest, and faithful to you. I take you for my wife, to have and to hold from this day on, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish for all the days of my life and until my last breath." Elena let out a shaky breath, holding back tears at his statement.

She steadied her voice then repeated the same after the minister, never letting her eyes leave Damon.

The minister spoke words that Elena never could make out. She was too captivated by his gaze.

However, she was very aware when the minister said, "Damon Salvatore, will you take Elena Gilbert, to be your wife? Will you love her, comfort her, honor and protect her and forsaking all others to be faithful to her until death do you apart?"

His voice rang through Elena's body, sending pleasant shivers down her back. "I do."

The question was directed then towards Elena, and she swallowed and said, "I do." Her voice wavered, trying to hold back her tears, and Damon noticed.

He looked at her attentatively, immediately worried that something was wrong, but when he saw her send him a small, loving smile, he was at ease. The fact that she was happy enough to cry about the fact that she was marrying him sent his heart racing.

Then, in her peripheral vision, Elena saw Jenna—looking absolutely beautiful—walk up to the altar and hand a small ceramic ring bearer bowl with the two wedding bands tied to it with a white ribbon to the minister. She smiled at both Damon and Elena, tears in her eyes, and returned to her seat in the front row.

The minister delicately untied the ribbon, and Elena gently picked up the simple, yet beautiful, golden band. With a shaky breath, she held Damon's left hand and said, "This ring, which has no beginning and no end, symbolizes the love and trust between us that will never cease." Elena drew in a deep breath and continued, "May its presence on your hand remind you of my love and vow. I place it on your finger as a visible sign of the promises which have made us husband and wife." Then, she gingerly placed the ring on Damon's finger.

Damon had to keep himself under control from just pulling her face toward his and kissing her. He couldn't help it. The way she had said that, her beautiful voice lilting as she spoke those words, had made his heart slam into his chest. Then, her hand—skin of silk—had placed the ring on his finger.

He shared a long glance with her before he received the other band from the minister.

Damon—voice strong and clear—repeated Elena's words with just as much feeling and love and placed the golden band with the one lone diamond on her finger.

" Until now Elena Gilbert and Damon Salvatore have spent each moment of their lives as separate individuals. But from this day on, and every day after their each moment shall be shared and spent as one." Which wasn't necessarily true. They had been one ever since they first proclaimed their love for each other. "By the power enthroned in me by the state of Virginia, I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may now kiss your bride."

Damon's eyes looked at the full lips behind the veil and back into her eyes. Slowly, surely, he reached up and gently grasped the edges of the soft material and pulled it over her face—his fingers brushing across her face the entire time. Elena was spellbound.

Damon's breath got caught in his throat when he—for the first time that day—really saw Elena's beauty. Yes, her face was the epitome of amazing, as always, but her inner beauty shone from her like a captivating glow, surrounding her in a cocoon of beauty. Her brown eyes were moist with unshed tears of happiness, and they looked like melted chocolate.

Unable to leave her gaze, Damon gently placed his left hand on her cheek, golden band glittering in the sunlight. Elena had stopped breathing at that moment.

Slowly, he leaned in, smelling her intoxicating breath on his face, and pressed his lips against hers, reminding him of the first time she kissed him, five years ago in her bedroom. They moved their lips in perfect synchronization. It took everything Damon had to keep himself from pulling her towards him, making her bow to his body, and kiss her until they no longer could sustain breath.

So, he was especially surprised when Elena wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled _him_ closer, kissing him passionately. He happily obliged. He wrapped his arms around her waist, desperate to be as close as possible to her.

Then, an awkward cough came from the audience.

Elena pulled back, blushing tremendously and looking down. She snuck a glance at Damon to find him wearing a large, triumphant smirk on his face—a smirk that she knew very well.

The minister chuckled slightly at their show of affection before saying, "Ladies and gentlemen, I now present to you Mr. and Mrs. Damon Salvatore."

The crowd erupted into applause and large smiles.

Damon grasped Elena's hand and with one look, they walked into the awaiting crowd to greet their loved ones.

The first pair of arms to wrap around Elena's neck was Jenna's. She was sobbing and laughing at the same time, making the married couple laugh. Jenna kissed Elena on the cheek and said shakily, "You're so beautiful!" Then, her eyes turned steely and she looked at Damon. "If you ever hurt her, I will _slit your throat._" Damon had to admit, Jenna would be a pretty badass vampire from the threatening look she was sending him.

"That won't be a problem, Jenna." He said it lightheartedly, but Elena—Jenna, too—could see the absolute sincerity in his eyes.

Jenna watched him for a moment before smiling and saying, "Well, then welcome to the family." Both Jenna and especially Damon were not huggers, but she gave him a warm one-armed hug—a large step for Jenna, considering she had never been too fond of Damon—and he awkwardly returned it. Elena grinned widely. She could tell that they would end up close…eventually.

From behind, Caroline flung herself at Elena in a huge hug. Elena laughed and hugged her back to the best of her ability without releasing Damon's hand—she never wanted to let go. Bonnie soon joined the hug. Meredith hung behind the squealing girls until they finally released Elena and let her breathe. Meredith wasn't one for being touchy feely. However, when Elena and Damon weren't being mobbed, she approached them, with Stefan right behind her, grinning widely.

"_Meredith!"_ Elena exclaimed. It was remarkable how close the two girls had become in the past five years. They didn't have the same relationship Elena had between Bonnie and Caroline. It was more…mature, no squealing and everything. But they trusted each other with their lives and were extraordinarily close. They embraced each other. Meredith released her and looked at both of them.

"Elena, you are the best friend I've ever had. You are so beautiful. And _you,_" she said, giving a pointed look towards Damon. "_You_ are extraordinarily lucky to have a girl like her. And remember that I will always have a stake ready for you if _anything _happens." She paused. "But…for a vampire, I guess I could truthfully say that…I like you, Damon. Even though you won't admit it, you're a good guy, and I know that you will do anything for Elena. So…for that, you will be permanently removed from my hit list." She grinned at him mischievously and he rolled his eyes.

Stefan then moved to the forefront and smiled. "Congratulations, you guys. You don't know how happy I am for you." He embraced Elena warmly and then said, "Brother, you turned out alright, after all."

Damon sneered at him but they ended up laughing and they hugged each other—a rare moment _that _was. Elena watched in glee. She was so happy that their relationship had not torn Stefan away. Elena loved him…but like she loved Jeremy. She couldn't imagine life without him. And…now that it was quite obvious that a romance was brewing between Meredith and Stefan, he had become even more enjoyable. Elena hoped it worked out. Both Stefan and Meredith deserved happiness.

Elena overheard Bonnie say, "Even though you've tried to kill me, I've come to like you, Damon."

"And even though your witchy voodoo crap gives my headaches…literally and metaphorically, I like you, too, Witchy." Then—to Elena's sincere surprise—they hugged. But, at one little moment, she saw Damon wince as he had his arms wrapped around little Bonnie. It quickly went away, though, and still in the hug, Damon growled, "Ow," in her ear and she just laughed and walked off.

They greeted multiple other people: Sheriff Forbes, Mayor Lockwood, and many others.

After about 45 minutes of multiple hugs and compliments on the venue, the dress, the kiss, Damon grasped Elena's hand and whispered in her ear, "What do you say we make our way to the reception and get the party started?"

Elena smiled and nodded and they both made their way to the reception room.

Elena couldn't believe it. She was married. Something that she wasn't sure she would ever be able to do, considering the fact that her life always happened to be in danger by some sort of supernatural being. But, that wasn't even the shocker.

She was married to _Damon. Salvatore._

For the longest time…he had been like a best friend to her—minus when he snapped her brother's neck, attacked Bonnie, and multiple other things—but then everything changed. _He _changed. _She _changed. They had always had that connection between each other, but in the first year of their acquaintance, she never even thought about ever loving him—romantically at least. But…when he had been a constant in her life…always there for her through thick and thin. Things started to change.

Love isn't always at first sight, that's obvious. It isn't something that just hits you all of a sudden, unless you're apart of either a soap opera or a centuries old play. It isn't going to prom, or flirting, or dating some high school sweetheart. It is helping someone when in need, taking care of them when sick—whether it's physically or emotionally, or putting someone before yourself no matter what the consequences.

_True_ love comes softly, slowly, and gently.

And when Elena looked at her husband and his unbearably blue eyes before walking into the reception area, she was reminded that what they had was true love. They were soul mates…destined to be together.

Then, hand in hand, they walked into the large open room and the awaiting crowd erupted into applause for the new Mr. and Mrs. Salvatore. Damon pulled her to his side as they walked into the room.

Caroline walked up to the microphone and said with an enthusiastic grin, "Now…the first dance as husband and wife! Damon? Elena?"

Damon looked at his wife and grinned. He nodded towards the center of the room and tugged slightly on her arm before they moved to the now cleared floor.

Music then radiated throughout the room, echoing from the good acoustics. Damon held his left hand out for her and she grasped it with her right. He then placed his other hand gently on her slender waist, making her spine tingle. Captivated by his gaze once again, he smiled and Elena followed him as they began to dance.

Elena couldn't shake the feeling she'd heard the song before. Yes, it was true, she hadn't picked the music. She had let Caroline have at it, knowing it would be much better if she did.

For some reason, she couldn't put her finger on it, but it all of a sudden came to her. The Ms. Mystic Falls pageant. Stefan had been her escort, but Damon had jumped in at the—literally—very last moment and had done it when Stefan hadn't shown up. They had danced to the very same song. _Caroline._ Elena had no doubt that it wasn't merely coincidence. She had remembered.

She smiled at the memory of dancing with Damon years ago. That was the first moment she realized that they shared a bond that Elena had never experienced before with anyone. It hadn't been just an _understanding_, as she had said so many years ago, but only now did she realize that.

They didn't do any fancy steps, or tricks, or anything. It was just Damon and Elena, dancing as if no one was watching.

Either way, there was no denying that Damon was a wonderful dancer, which made Elena look good without even trying.

When their dancing slowed down, Damon leaned his head forward, making his forehead touch hers. His eyes were shut and he had a small smile on his lips.

"Are you okay?" Elena whispered, staring up at him.

Damon was silent for a long time. She watched him intently, waiting for him to say something.

Then, in a small voice—but not quite a whisper, he said, "Thank you." His eyes remained shut.

Elena looked at him quizzically. "For what?" she asked, their foreheads still touching.

Damon's love for Elena hit him like a freight train as they danced. He would never get used to how she could make him feel. It was like he was in heaven.

After all, she was his angel.

Suddenly, Elena's breath caught in her throat at the sight of his smoldering blue eyes opening as he said softly—almost vulnerably, "For loving me."

Elena's heart slammed into her throat as she looked up at him in awe. She moved her lips toward his and he met her in the middle. They kissed sweetly and softly. They couldn't even hear the various _Aww_s and cheers coming from the audience at the sight of it. It was just the two of them.

When they separated their lips—keeping the foreheads together—they became lost in each other's eyes—chocolate brown and sky blue—as they gently moved to the music.

They knew that their hardships weren't over. They had hard decisions approaching them in their lives and the life of their marriage. They weren't sure how things would turn out.

But, they knew that the power of love would push them through any hardships.

The power of _their _love.

**And that concludes **_**The Power of Love!**_** I really love how the story played out in the end. (Who doesn't love a Delena ending?)**

**And, I know, that (hopefully) some of you will ask me about a sequel. Well…at first I thought, "Nope. The story has been told. We just need to leave it at that." But then I asked myself, "When is any conflict in the Vampire Diaries solved with just a 20 chapter story? **_**Never!"**_** So…let's just say I have a plot in the works. ;) However, I do have some catching up on other stories of mine and I want to start a new one.**

**But…let's just say…what I have planned for the sequel is totally unexpected. I haven't seen any other story come close to the story line, so I'm taking it while I have the chance…I hope you're as excited as I am! **_**Please **_**subscribe to an author alert so you can see when I'm putting the sequel up. I also have a one-shot for Damon and Elena based on a song written by one of my favorite composers: very….**_**passionate.**_

**Thank you all sooo much!**

***midnightwings96***

**P.S. OH! And for pictures of Elena's dress, bouquet, hair, and bridesmaid dresses, check out my profile for the links! I'd LOVE to hear what you guys think of them! AND, if you're still unsure, the song that was played during the first dance as husband and wife was All I Need by Within Temptation. **


	23. READ THIS FOR THE SAKE OF THE SEQUEL!

_**PLEASE READ RIGHT NOWW!**_

Okay, so….I am STARTING the SEQUEL to the POWER OF LOVE! It's gonna be great, and I'm sure that NONE of you are gonna expect what's gonna happen…..:D :D :D

_**BUT**_, here's the catch….

You guys all know that I'm a beta-reader now, right? Well, the first story I've ever beta-read to be posted is now UP! I'm sure almost ALL of you have seen the Batman Begins and The Dark Knight movies, right? (That stars the unbelievably gorgeous and sexy Christian Bale…3) Well, for me to start posting the sequel? I need you to review this story: The Knight's Shadow. It's by nightangel96. She is a great author and a great friend of mine as well…and we are planning on co-writing…but we won't be able to if she doesn't get some reviews! It really is awesome…and, if you haven't noticed by now, I'm incredibly hard to please.

SO…for the sake of the sequel to the Power of Love, my insecurities about beta-reading, and the sanity of my good friend….PLEASE read The Knight's Shadow! You WILL not regret it!

When she reaches the minimum of 10 reviews…I'll post the first chapter of the sequel!

You guys KNOW I love you….

*midnightwings96*


	24. SEQUEL UPLOADED!

Hey, guys!

So...as you can tell from my various exclamation points, I'm really excited. Why? Cause I have uploaded the SEQUEL to this story, called Power of Life! If you liked the Power of Love, I hope you will LOVE the sequel...I have some unexpected plotlines, twists, and surprises that I'm UBER excited to write! So, PLEASE read and REVIEW! I need to know what you guys think! Thanks so much!

Midnightwings96

P.S. I'm soo sorry it took so long to upload this! I was...kinda grounded from my laptop...and I still am. So THANKS to nightangel96 for helping me out with this and plotlines and everything else we talk about into the wee hours of the night, lol! (You guys need to read her Batman story, The Knight's Shadow. To put it bluntly...it kicks ass.). I will upload the first official chapter (I've got the prologue up, now) as soon as I have it written and can sneak onto my mom's computer to type and upload, lol!) Thanks again!


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